


FMA Drabbles

by mustangsgloves



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: F/M, Mostly Fluff, Parental! Royai, Young!Royai, that's all I can write ha
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-22
Updated: 2017-05-22
Packaged: 2018-05-15 10:31:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 24,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5782921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mustangsgloves/pseuds/mustangsgloves
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>a wide range of oneshots based on tumblr prompts</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Falling Asleep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On the long ride to Eastern, Team Mustang deals with the tiniest train compartment imaginable...

One of these days Roy was going to have to petition to General Grumman for bigger train compartments when traveling with his team.  Or at least the guarantee of enough storage room for the suitcases so that the actual people could sit on the allotted spaces.

 

As it was, Roy, Havoc and Breda sat on the ground playing a round of cards. Fuery was already dozing on one bench, his head resting on the window pane, and Falman sat at the other end near the younger man's feet, reading a book and ignoring the grumbling of the three men below.

 

Hawkeye sat on the bench opposite, reviewing the files for the investigation they were heading towards back in Eastern.  She sat close to the window, and the overflow luggage for their unexpected month long stay in some remote town was piled next to her. It wasn't like Roy and his team weren't light packers, it was the issue that General Grumman, ever the money saver, had booked them the smallest compartment on the entire train.

 

"Aw hell Havoc," Breda complained as the sandy haired man lay down his winning hand, "since when are you good at cards?"

 

"Since we were playing for the space left on Hawkeye's bench," Havoc said, getting up from his cross legged position on the floor to stretch.  "And it looks like I get it."

 

"Lieutenant Havoc," Hawkeye said, not even bothering to look up from her reading. "You may have the extra space on this bench given there is luggage separating you and I."

 

Breda laughed at Havoc's joking show of disappointment.   Roy smirked.

 

"Don't go looking so smug Chief," Havoc said as he readjusted the bags, "if you were me the disappointment wouldn't be faked."  Roy glared.

 

"Ah look," Breda stage whispered to Havoc, "he's all upset."

 

The taller man snorted.

 

"I wouldn't be laughing boys," Hawkeye said, finally putting away the files.  "The Colonel here could easily pull rank and take the spot for himself."  Roy's tired mind hadn't even considered that.  Havoc and Breda sobered considerably at the thought.  "But for now just sit down and get some sleep Havoc," she said as she situated herself, uncrossing her legs for more comfort.

 

"Breda, if you take some of the luggage and put it down in the middle I'll use it to sleep," Roy said as he moved to stand by the window.  Breda shot him a look.

 

"You sure sir?" He asked.  "I could always-"

 

"No worries Lieutenant," he said, waving the concern aside. "I'd really rather not be stuck next to Havoc, I'm afraid he'll latch onto the closest thing next to him in the middle of the night."

 

"Hey!" Havoc objected. Breda laughed and sat down next to the blond man and crossed his arms, eyes already closing.

 

"That's why I wanted the luggage," Hawkeye murmured softly.  Roy grinned.

 

"Falman," the man looked up from his book.  "Try to get some sleep," Roy said, "I'm turning out the light and I would rather it didn't come back on."

 

"Of course, sir," he put his book aside and closed his eyes.

 

Roy pulled on the string connected to the single bulb and settled beneath the window, back against the wall.

 

Closing his eyes, he tried to ignore the soft snores of Fuery and the slight wheeze of Havoc's inhales, focusing instead on the soft breath of the woman beside him.

 

 After a few minutes, he entered into the welcome realm of unconsciousness, the slight rocking of the train quickly lulling him to sleep.

 

* * *

 

 

It couldn't have been more than five in the morning when the soft light filtering through the thin curtain forced Roy awake.

 

His head was more comfortable than he expected it to be after sleeping sitting up.  Sometime in the night he must've rotated so that he was lying with his head on the luggage.  He was ready to leave it at that before his pillow moved, and then he notices that his pillow was _warm_.  Opening his eyes, Roy was met with the familiar color of the Amestris uniform.

 

With a jolt, he realized that his head was most definitely resting on the lap of one of his subordinates.  Taking care not to move, he assessed the situation.

 

There was no sickly-sweet smell of tobacco, which ruled out Havoc.  The pants themselves lacked the mustard stain that Breda had gotten yesterday thanks to an off bump the train has gone over, and he wasn't situated the correct way for it to be Falman or Fuery.  That left one option.

 

Oh yes, Colonel Roy Mustang had fallen asleep with his head in his First Lieutenant's lap.

 

Roy felt his entire body tense as Riza moved her arms from being crossed against her chest down to rest in her lap. Of course, this led her hands to be on his head, or more  specifically, in his hair.

 

 _C'mon Roy,_ he thought to himself, _just move your head!_   He could, but he really would rather not alert Riza as to exactly how they were sitting right now.  But he figured he didn't have another choice, after all, it wouldn't do for say Havoc or Breda to wake up and find their two superior officers in such a position.

 

Inhaling, Roy steeled his resolve and moved his head ever so slightly.  Riza made a soft noise but didn't wake.  He would have to be very careful, it was really a miracle she hadn't woken up yet, she had always been a light sleeper.

 

Roy didn't move for a few moments, thinking hard about the best way to solve this… _problem._   Yes, part of him was totally okay with the arrangement, but there was a good chance that Riza wouldn't share the sentiment.

 

This called for a band-aid move as Roy liked to call it; just get it over with.  Counting down in his head, he prepared himself to move.

 

5…4…3…2…

 

But with Roy's luck, a sudden bump on the tracks at that exact instant jolted Riza awake.  Moving his head away as quickly as he could, Roy looked up to see the Lieutenant blinking owlishly at him.  She gave him a confused look.

 

"Sir…" She began, "what are you doing?" A beat. "Is everything alright?"

 

"Oh yes Lieutenant," Roy said quickly, "just grand."

 

 _Just grand?_ he thought to himself, _are you suddenly Grumman's age_?

 

Riza seemed to have noticed the odd word choice as well.

 

Giving him a look, she continued. "I could've sworn I felt something in my lap…"  Roy hoped that the leftover sleep would hinder her ability to piece everything together, but it seemed the universe was conspiring against him.

 

"Something in my lap…" She breathed.  Suddenly it clicked and her brown eyes widened.  Roy winced and reflexively closed his eyes, waiting for the onslaught.  But it never came.

 

When he peeked at his subordinate, he was surprised to find red faintly dusting her cheeks. Was she _blushing_?

 

"I swear I didn't mean to Hawkeye," he said quickly, putting his hands up in a hopefully placating gesture. "You and I both know that I tend to rest my head on something when sleeping, be it a pillow, luggage, books…a human."

 

"Your head was in my lap," she said.  It wasn't a question.

 

"Yes."

 

"Alright."

 

"I know I'm sorr-" he began, desperately trying to defend himself, but stopped when he realized what she had said.

 

"Wait- alright?" He repeated, unsure if he had heard right. 

 

"Yes sir," she said as she closed her eyes.  "It was an accident, no harm done."

 

"Right."

 

"However I don't think the men need to know," she opened one eye.  "Right Colonel?"

 

"Right." Roy repeated.

 

"Well then sir," she said, crossing her arms and getting comfortable once again.  "We have a couple of hours until we reach Dublith and we both need sleep. Good night."  The blush still remained on her cheeks.

 

Roy nodded, feeling a similar heat on his own face.

 

Sighing, he returned the sentiment, "good night Hawkeye."

 

This was going to be a long trip.


	2. Not Enough

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roy doesn't know if he's good enough to study under Berthold Hawkeye, Riza disagrees.

Sighing, Roy leaned his head on his desk, directly onto the stack of papers he was supposed to be memorizing for some sort of exam Master Hawkeye had planned for the next morning.  With a groan, Roy closed his eyes and fought off the cold tiredness seeping into his body.  He hated that feeling.  That stupid feeling of not being good enough.  Every once in a while it would settle over him like a sort of icy veil that made it feel like doing anything was impossible.

 

All at once his arms and legs felt chilled and his chest felt fiery.  His hands shook and he drew a shaky breath.  He could do this he could do this he… he couldn't do this.  Who was he kidding, he was only 14 years old, it was a miracle he had made it almost two months into his training.  Besides, Master Hawkeye had made it clear that this was one of the most crucial points in his apprenticeship.  This test was the deciding factor.  Would he be permitted to stay and continue studying under this old genius, or would he be kicked back to Central, his pride dragging behind him?  Fighting off the seemingly childish urge to cry, Roy sat hunched over his desk for what must have been several minutes before a knocking on his door and a soft voice broke him from his reverie.

 

"Mister Mustang?"

 

Startled, he sat up, trying to rub the invasive tears from the edges of his vision before turning to face his master's daughter.  Not quite trusting himself to say anything without his voice wavering, Roy simply hummed in acknowledgement of the girl.

 

"Is everything alright?" she asked, eyeing him curiously.  Roy didn't do anything, instead opting to turn his attention back to the papers.  "I've been calling you for dinner for almost fifteen minutes now."

 

"Oh," he muttered, looking back at Riza but not quite meeting her amber gaze.  "I'm sorry Miss Hawkeye, I just got caught up in this…."  Riza's eyes swept across the expanse of his desk, clearly noting the lack of any clear space under the massive number of papers covering the wood.  Roy could feel her gaze on him once again and turned his head away, once again feeling the tears welling up.

 

Quiet footsteps creaked across the floor until he could feel a presence next to him.  A small hand rested itself on his shoulder, nervous, but sure.

 

"You must be studying for the two month exam."

 

Roy nodded, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand.  _Stupid_ , he chided himself, _quit being so childish_.  Riza was silent for a moment before continuing.

 

"Let me help."  Unable to help himself, Roy turned to her, surprised.  The girl met his still teary gaze resolutely despite his doubtful look.  Steeling herself, she elaborated.

 

"You've helped me plenty around the house with tasks," she said gently, "now please, let me help you."

 

"Oh Miss Hawkeye it's really no big deal I… I'm sure I….I mean…I just…" Roy looked away, clumsily rearranging the papers on his desk.  Yet the more he tried to explain that he didn't want to inconvenience her, the more he felt himself longing for her assistance.  Finally Roy stopped and looked back at Riza.  Her gaze was calm and confident, albeit a bit nervous.

 

"I'd really appreciate it, Miss Hawkeye," he said.  The quiet girl nodded and pulled the spare chair in the room next to his.

 

The two studied late into the night, and by the end Roy felt more comfortable with the material than he thought he ever would.  Roy glanced at Riza as he cleaned up the mess of books and drawings on his desk.

 

"Thank you," he said quietly.  "I was really worried I wasn't enough…"

 

"Not enough?" she repeated, quirking an eyebrow.  Roy nodded.

 

"I really want to continue studying under your father," he said, rubbing the back of his neck.  "I'm afraid I'm not good enough."

 

Once again, he felt her small hand on his shoulder, if only for a quick second before she walked away from him.

 

"From what I've seen Mister Mustang," she said as she opened the door.  "You're more than enough."

 

Shocked at the girl's declaration, Roy turned to look at her.  "Thank you."

 

"Good luck," she said quietly, "I do hope you stick around."  And with that, Riza exited his room.

 

Roy aced the exam.  The smile from Riza Hawkeye was enough to convince him that maybe he was going to get the hang of this alchemy thing sooner than he thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Any and all comments are welcome!


	3. Bullied

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alphonse doesn't like to argue, but Roy will for the sake of those he cares about.

"Hah! Take a look around kid, big brother isn't here to protect you now!" a voice jeered.

 

Glancing up from the food he had been pushing around on his plate, Roy looked around the Mess Hall.  It was packed, that's for sure.  It was one of the few days of the week that served reasonable food, and everyone was itching to avoid the onslaught of work that had come with a recent string of crimes within Central.  Unable to find the source of the jab, Roy looked back down and turned the page of the report Lieutenant Hawkeye had sent with him to read.

 

"Aw poor thing can't even eat," another voice joined in.  "What, do you need your mommy to feed you?  Oh - that's right, you don't have one!"

 

Roy grumbled and slouched further on the bench, willing himself to focus on the writing in front of him.

 

"Why are you even here?" a third voice, this time a woman's, added to the onslaught.  "You don't even do anything, you're just another one of Mustang's stupidly loyal dogs…"  Roy's head snapped up at that comment.  Hearing some bastards throw around their power in the Mess Hall wasn't uncommon, and most soldiers were used to it and ignored it, but if this was one of his men…

 

Standing up, Roy scanned the Mess for any members of his ragtag team…  There was no familiar shock of salt and pepper hair… Not Falman.  Good.  No unassuming young man with his ever-present headphones, not Fuery.  Also good, the kid didn't need any animosity in his life.  No Breda, sitting eating a large sandwich and playing with his deck of cards.  No tall, sandy-haired Lieutenant trying to talk to Rebeca Catalina, and certainly no Hawkeye.  She would've given the jerks the her patented glare and that would've shut them up right away.

 

Suddenly a glint of sunlight on metal caught Roy's eye.  His gut twisted as began to walk purposefully over towards where Alphonse Elric was seated.

 

When he reached the boy, the three officers who had been taunting him were laughing loudly, still unaware of Roy's presence.

 

"What," Roy ground out, "is the meaning of this?"  The laughter stopped.  Alphonse was wringing his hands, his soul-fire eyes fixed at some point beyond the soldiers.

 

One of the men, a Warrant Officer Henley Roy thought fleetingly, spoke up.  "Colonel Mustang, Sir."  Offering him a hasty salute.  "We were just joking around with the boy here, no harm-"

 

"No harm my ass," Roy spat.  Henley stiffened.  "This 'boy' is one of my most talented subordinates, and your intent was clearly malicious."

 

"With all due respect sir," the woman spoke up, a Sergeant Major.  "Warrant Officer Henley spoke the truth, we mean no harm."

 

"But harm you've done," Roy said, glaring at the three officers.  Henley met his gaze for a second before looking away, the Sergeant Major did the same.  However, the final soldier, Major Jeffers, a fellow State-Alchemist, held Roy's gaze with a challenging sneer on his face.

 

"Aw c'mon Mustang," he said, lips parting to reveal disgustingly yellow teeth.  "The kid didn't even stand up for himself," spreading his hands, Jeffers continued.  "I guess you don't teach your subordinates how to survive in the real world hmm?"

 

Roy's eyes narrowed even further.  The Major continued.  "Besides, he's pretty much useless on your team, I don't see why you keep him arou-"

 

Roy couldn't help himself any longer.  His fist connected with Jeffers' face with a satisfying thud, and the younger man was sent stumbling backwards, hands flying up to his nose in a vain effort to staunch the flowing blood.

 

"I keep him around," Roy growled, wiping his fist off on his pants, "because he is talented, loyal, kind, and a good man, unlike yourself."  With that, he put a hand on Alphonse's shoulder and led him out of the Mess Hall.

 

The boy was silent the entire walk up to Roy's office.  When they went through the main room, they were greeted with Falman, Breda, Fuery and Havoc playing a game of Poker.  The men all offered quick greetings before turning back to their games.  Lieutenant Hawkeye, perceptive as ever, held Roy's gaze with a silent question.  Shaking his head slightly, Roy answered it, _I'll explain the blood later_.  Seeing his hand on Alphonse's shoulder, she accepted his response and continued to work.  Roy led the boy into his office.

 

"I'm sorry Colonel Mustang," Al said meekly as Roy closed the door behind them.

 

"You have nothing to be sorry about Alphonse," Roy said as he gestured to the couch.  Al sat down and watched as Roy went to his desk and rummaged through his drawers.

 

"I should've stopped them," Al said, looking at the ground, "then you wouldn't have had to hit that man…they're right, I don't do anything…"  Roy slammed his drawer shut, startled Al looked up.

 

Wrapping his hand in a small bandage, Roy crossed the room and crouched in front of the boy.

 

"Al," he said, "look at me."  The suit obliged, glowing eyes meeting Roy's obsidian gaze.  "You have absolutely nothing to be sorry about, do you understand?" Al sighed.

 

"Alphonse," Roy said, placing his hand on one of the large metal knees.  "They're wrong about you.  Totally wrong.  I meant everything I said.  You're incredible, you're kind and stronger than they'll ever be, hell, you're stronger than I'll ever be-"

 

Al made a noise to interrupt but Roy continued.

 

"Don't let anything they said affect you," Roy said.  "I know it's hard, we've all been there before."

 

"All of you?" Al asked, glancing up at Roy.

 

"All of us," he confirmed.  "Havoc, Breda, Fuery, Falman, Me, even Hawkeye."

 

"The Lieutenant?"  Roy nodded.

 

"But none of what those jerks say is ever true, do you understand?"  Alphonse nodded slowly.

 

"I'm still sorry about your hand…"

 

"Don't be," Roy laughed.  "I did that of my own accord, and besides, you can't be as sorry as I am, I have hell to pay when I have to explain to the Lieutenant that I just punched a man."

 

Alphonse laughed weakly, and Roy felt a surge of affection for the younger Elric.

 

Offering his fist to the boy, Roy continued.  "You're part of this team, Alphonse," he said.  "You're part of our family, and family protects each other, even if it means getting yelled at later."

 

Alphonse bumped his fist with Roy's and laughed, a real laugh this time, and Roy couldn't help but grin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A quick drabble for the prompt "Bullied" with Al and Roy
> 
> Any and all comments are awesome!


	4. The Princess and The Dragon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roy and Riza look after Elysia

“This is ridiculous,” Roy muttered as he examined the small lump of fabric that Elysia had placed in his hands.  The young girl had giggled, given the fabric to Roy, declared very firmly “play!” and skipped off, a small tiara in one hand and a flower in the other.

Grumbling quietly, Roy fastened the small scaly-patterned cloak around his collar, placed the pair of pointy ears on his head and entered the living room.

The scene that he was met with was one he couldn’t say he had ever imagined. His first Lieutenant stood in the middle of the room, a tiara on her now down golden hair and a fake rose in her hands.  Elysia was talking to her animatedly, gesturing wildly with her small hands.  Riza’s smile was wide as she listened attentively to the little girl, but quickly changed into wide-eyed astonishment at her superior officer’s outfit.

“Not a word Hawkeye,” Roy said darkly as he walked over to the two girls.  Hawkeye nodded and bit her lip as if she was restraining herself from bursting out in laughter.

“Of course not,” she said.  Turning to Elysia she asked, “what do you have Uncle Roy dressed up as Elysia?”  The little girl beamed.

“A dragon!” She said happily.

“Why is that?” Hawkeye asked, kneeling down to be face to face with the girl.

“Because Uncle Roy is big and scary like a dragon, but he’s really just nice and fun on the inside!  Just like a dragon!”  Hawkeye laughed.  Roy couldn’t help his smile.

“And in the fairy tails my Daddy always tells me, it’s always the princess and the prince who are in love, but in my story it’s the princess and the dragon!” Roy raised an eyebrow at Hawkeye as she glanced up at him.

“Is that so?” Hawkeye said, turning back to Elysia.  The girl grabbed her hand and then reached up for Roy’s.  Giggling, she put her hands together, effectively trapping both Roy and Riza’s hands between her smaller ones.

“See?” Elysia said, stepping back and admiring the sight before her.  “Yes Auntie Riza, the dragon and the princess are in love, I just know it.”

Roy stole a glance at Riza.  She was smiling at Elysia.  She turned to him, blushing slightly at finding him already looking at her.

Looking down at their entertwined hands, Roy smiled softly, deciding that maybe babysitting Elysia wasn’t the worst way to spend a day off after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short little drabble from an ask on tumblr, I would love to expand on Elysia and Roy and Riza interactions in the future :D


	5. Kiss Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Even though they were undercover at a seedy bar in Eastern, Roy would’ve never expected to hear Riza Hawkeye tell him to kiss her."

Over the years Roy thought he had heard a lot of crazy things.  Hearing Edward Elric claim that he had grown taller than Roy was crazy, Havoc finding a steady relationship with Rebecca Catalina was crazy, hell even being promoted to General shortly after gaining his vision back was crazy; but nothing even came close to how crazy the sentence that his Captain had just uttered was.  Even though they were undercover at a seedy bar in Eastern, Roy would’ve never expected to hear Riza Hawkeye tell him to kiss her.

 

“Excuse me?” Roy choked.

 

“Kiss me,” she repeated.

 

“I don’t-“

 

“Listen Sir, our cover is about to be blown,” she nodded discreetly over his shoulder to the corner where an accomplice to their target, a very sleazy and infamous arms dealer, was nursing a shot of whiskey.  The man finished the last of the drink and started to stand and make his way across the bar to them.  Feeling a tug on his tie, Roy turned and found Riza’s face inches from his own.  His mouth went dry.

 

“Captain I still don’t think this is a good id-“ Riza cut him off with a firm look.

 

“Sir I am telling you, that man recognizes us as military officials.  Our target is very important, and we cannot blow our cover.  So please, for the love of god just kiss-“

 

This time Roy stopped her.  With one hand on her jaw with his fingers behind her ear he gently brought her face closer to his. Roy could see that despite her insistence, apprehension was clear in her amber gaze.  Giving her what he hoped was a reassuring look; Roy closed the remaining gap between them.

 

After closing his eyes, his first slightly coherent thought was  _my_ god _her lips are soft_.  After a few moments Riza’s hands snaked themselves into his hair and Roy felt his body relax into the kiss.  His other hand went to her waist and tugged her closer to him and all the tension left her body as she finally allowed herself to relax as well.

 

Roy wasn’t sure how much time had passed when he felt Riza pull away.  Glancing over he saw that the man approaching them had returned to his seat and was now glaring at his empty glass.  Roy took a deep breath and turned to Riza, resting his forehead against hers.

 

“Right…” she breathed, cheeks flushed and eyes avoiding his.

 

“Yeah…” he responded quietly.

 

Shaking her head and pulling away from his embrace she muttered, “I’m sorry that was stupid I won’t do it again sir.”

 

Roy shook his head and obeying a sudden jolt in his stomach captured her lips with is once again.  Riza obliged to the kiss before stiffening and pulling away.

 

“Col- G-General,” she stuttered.  Roy pulled her close again.  “What are you doing?”

 

“I won’t do it again if you don’t want me to,” Roy replied quietly, “but it seems to me that the best idea here would to keep our cover strong yes?”  He brushed his nose against hers.

 

Rolling her eyes Riza sighed, affection clearly written on her face.  “You’re an idiot sir,” she murmured.

 

“C’mon Hawkeye,” Roy said, grinning.  “Kiss me.”

 

She was never one to disobey orders.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> undercover just gets me


	6. Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> my piece for the first day of Royai week 2015 (last year) "Dreams"

For long as she could remember, Riza Hawkeye had always been cautious when dealing with dreams, well for the most part.  Not when she was a little girl at least.

Her mother had always told her  _sweet dreams little one_ , as she tucked her into bed every night, pulling up the covers tightly and placing a soft kiss on her forehead.  It went on for years, until one rough winter her mother got sick, and instead it was Riza who was tucking in and whispering  _sweet dreams, mama_  as her mother grasped weakly to her small hand.

Eventually the tucking in ceased altogether.  Her mother passed away and her father retreated into his studies. Riza never heard  _sweet dreams_  from him.  The following years, Riza dreamed of her mother.  But her mother never came back like Riza dreamed of.

At age 10 she decided that dreams were for fools.

* * *

Roy Mustang was an odd boy.  When he showed up at her door four years later, 16 years old, dark haired, gangly and awkward, she knew that he was different.  The first time they met that pleasant spring morning, he had fumbled over his words as he greeted her.

“Ah- hi,” he stammered, rubbing at the back of his neck.  “I’m Roy Mustang,” he extended his hand towards her.  “I’m uh…I’m here to learn Alchemy.”

As she eyed him warily, she quickly noticed the bright glint in his dark eyes that all of her father’s previous students had lacked.  She shook his hand.

“Nice to meet you Mr. Mustang,” she said quietly, “I’m Riza Hawkeye.”

That night, for the first time in a long time, Riza dreamed.

* * *

At age 19, Roy left the Hawkeye household for the Military academy.  The night before his departure, Riza couldn’t sleep.  She pushed back the covers on her bed and slipped on her slippers and padded downstairs to the kitchen.  Riza wasn’t surprised to see her friend sitting at the table with two cups of tea and a small smile on his face.  They talked until the sun rose.

At the train station, Roy stuck by her side until seconds before he needed to get on the train back to Central.  As the final horn sounded, he smiled sadly and reached towards Riza.  His fingers brushed her face softly as he pushed a strand of her short hair behind her ear.

“I’ll see you soon Riza,” he said softly.  She nodded, not trusting herself to say anything in fear of her voice betraying her calm.  He leaned closer and paused to gauge her reaction to the sudden proximity.

The lump in Riza’s throat threatened to break.  She surged forward and grabbed the lapels of his coat and brought her lips against his.  It was quick and it was soft and it was like nothing Riza had ever dreamt of before.  As Roy boarded the train, Riza let her tears finally fall.

That night her dreams were plagued with images of soldiers and war.  She woke up screaming.

* * *

The next time she saw Roy Mustang, he shared a dream of his own.

As they stood over her father’s grave, he told her of his desire to make the world a better place.  It’s childish he said.  She disagreed.

That night as his hands brushed gently over the work that had driven her father insane, Riza found herself thinking of that better future. She would do whatever it took to make that dream a reality.

Ten months later as she stood on the edge of the battlefield, she tried to remind herself of what she was doing this all for.  She couldn’t.  Suddenly she was 10 years old again, lost, lonely, and hating her dreams.

* * *

 

Since Ishval, it wasn’t uncommon for Riza to get nightmares.  But the normalcy of them didn’t make it any easier when she awoke, wrapped in sweat soaked sheets and struggling to breathe.

She could always tell when Roy had nightmares.  They increased as the Promised Day drew closer and as Roy worked himself to the bone on his search for his best friend’s killer. He would walk into the office disheveled and late, with bloodshot eyes and tousled hair.

He would be exceptionally quiet on these days, and as Riza handed him the papers that needed his attention, his eyes would meet hers.  But on these days his dark eyes no longer held any of that bright glint from his years as her father’s apprentice.  These days his eyes were empty.

When Führer Bradley had the team transferred out from Roy’s command it seemed like everything had fallen apart.

For the first time since Ishval, Riza didn’t know how much she could help him achieve his dream.

* * *

The Promised Day almost killed her.  If it hadn’t had been for the Xingese Princess and her alkahestry, Riza was sure she would’ve died.

As she watched the transmutation circle illuminate around Roy, she thought vaguely that even in death she wouldn’t have felt as helpless as she did now. Dreams come with too large a cost she decided.

* * *

It was weird to see Roy and know he couldn’t see her.

As they sat side-by-side in a medical tent in the aftermath of the fight with Father, Riza was at a loss.  What could she say to a man who had his most important sense ripped from his being?  What could she say to a man who had experienced something that was unspeakable? What could she say to Roy Mustang, a boy who had always had a vision, now that he could no longer see?  Finally Riza decided that she couldn’t say anything. Instead her hand found his.  His fingers grasped hers with surprising strength as he turned to face her.

“Thank you Lieutenant,” he whispered.  Riza squeezed his hand.

“Some dreams are worth fighting for Colonel,” she said, closing her eyes.  Her head rested slightly on his shoulder as she closed her eyes and dreamed of their better future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was written quickly (hah Royai week was my finals week fml) and in a slightly different style than usual, hope you enjoyed!


	7. Skin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> my piece for Royai Week '15 (can't believe that was last year already!) for the prompt "Skin"

Roy groaned and pressed his face to his hands, pushing the heavy textbook off his desk.  It landed on the wooden floor with a resounding thud.  He had decided in the past few days that this incessant heat was going to be his downfall.  There was no way he was going to learn this new material Master Hawkeye was teaching him when all he wanted to do was cool off and get his skin to feel like it stopped boiling.

 

Leaning back in his chair, he clasped his hands behind his head and looked out the window.  The garden below was bright with countless flowers and herbs and just beyond the old wooden fence lay a small field that extended to the edge of the forest.

 

Suddenly there was a knock on his door, loosing balance at the sudden noise, Roy fell backwards and collided with the hardwood floor below.

 

Groaning and cursing quietly, he crawled away from the overturned chair and walked over to the door.

 

Riza Hawkeye stood in the hallway, eyeing him with one eyebrow quirked as she noticed the chair that was now on the floor instead of where it should’ve been at the desk.

 

“I heard a crash,” she said smirking slightly, “can I safely assume that the overturned chair was a contributor?”

 

"It was the book..."

 

A blonde eyebrow raised.

 

"And then the chair..." he continued meekly.  Riza laughed quietly.

 

Roy pouted at her and walked back to his desk.  Riza followed him and sat on the edge of his bed as she watched him pick up the misplaced papers.  Roy set the semi-organized stack of papers onto the surface of the desk and turned to face her.  Riza was smirking slightly with a mischievous glint in her eye that made Roy rather uneasy.

 

“What did you want anyways?” Roy said, “ and don’t tell me it was just to taunt me about how you don’t have any work to do, you’ve made that clear-“

 

“I’m going swimming and I was going to see if you wanted to go, but apparently you’re working pretty hard, well at least with falling to the ground, you’ve seemed to master that.”  She crossed her arms and her smile widened as his face fell.

 

“Really Riza?” he said, smiling slightly as he clutched his heart in mock pain.  “That was a low blow, a very low blow.”  Looking at his stack of notes briefly before pushing his chair out and walking towards the door.  “But, I can’t turn down the offer of a break from this stuff and a swim in the lake.” As he passed Riza in the hall on their way down to the entry he could have sworn he heard her mutter “dork” under her breath.

* * *

 

Not that he would ever admit it to her face, but Riza’s idea had been a lifesaver.  The lake was the perfect temperature, and no one was out thanks to the absurd temperature of the air and the fact it was a Wednesday afternoon.

 

Riza looked at peace as she sat in the shade of the trees observing the calm water.  Roy however, was less worried about the view and much more worried about the basic necessity of feeling the cool water on his overheated skin.  He tore off his sweat-soaked t-shirt and threw it to the side before discarding his shoes and socks.  He jogged over to the rickety old dock that Riza told him had been there for as long as she could remember and launched himself off the edge.

 

Immediately Roy felt at ease, the cold water did wonders for clearing his mind and finally letting him feel relieved for the first time since Master Hawkeye had assigned him his new material.  Swimming out a bit further, Roy lay on his back and simply floated for a few blissful moments before his calm was interrupted by a loud splash from nearby.

 

Before he could give the disturbance a second thought, he was dragged under the water by slim fingers wrapped around his ankle.

 

As he surfaced, he heard soft laughing from close by. Smirking before taking a deep breath, Roy grabbed onto his teacher’s daughter and pulled her under with him.

 

Riza fought valiantly against his strong grip, but when he was determined, not much could stop Roy.

 

As he brought them back above water, Roy suddenly became  _very_  aware that his hands were touching bare skin.  Last time he checked, Riza had been dressed modestly in a white sundress and sandals.  _Idiot!_  he chided himself, of course she wouldn’t swim in that, obviously she would be wearing a swimsuit!  Looking down at his friend, he realized that yes, his deduction was correct.  She was dressed in a thin white t-shirt that had ridden up around her waist when he had grabbed her and short black shorts that he hadn’t seen on her before.  Wait a second, was that  _his_  t-shirt?!  Roy swallowed his suddenly very dry throat before interrogating her.

 

“Hold on a second,” he said, eyeing her questioningly, “is that  _my_ t-shirt?”

 

“Yep,” she said, wiping her bangs from her forehead, “I needed something and that was my best option.  I hope you don’t mind.”  He had to give her credit for not blushing, because he was almost 100% sure that his face was bright red.

 

“Oh- okay.” Roy’s voice squeaked slightly and he silently cursed the way clothes worked.  The shirt had clung to her in the most distracting way he thought possible.

 

“You’re looking at me funny…is there something on my face?” she asked, giving him a worried look.  He shook his head before clearing his throat.  “All right then…” she said, clearly not buying his lack of a response. They were quiet for a second before she spoke again.

 

“You know Mr. Mustang…I do know how to swim. There’s no need to hold me up.”  Roy flushed and stammered out a feeble “sorry” before releasing his grip on her waist.  With that, she turned away and swam back to the shore.

 

Roy treaded water distractedly as he watched her go, trying to get a grip on himself before he even dared exit the lake.  Wet shorts showed too much for his liking.

 

Back on the shore, Riza had opted to put her dress back on, but his shirt was much too wet to wear, which left him with no top and rather annoyed, because his mind was way more occupied on the girl next to him than it was on the alchemy work he knew he had waiting for him in his room.  As they began to head back towards the house, Riza stopped and turned to him.

 

“You’re pouting,” she said, smirking at his grumpy expression.

 

“Yeah of course I am, I have no shirt and you are way too-“  _distracting_.  Roy paused and blushed before continuing to walk.  A hand on his shoulder stopped him.

 

“Too what?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at him. Roy sighed and ran his hand through is damp hair.

 

“Nothing, doesn’t matter,” he picked turned to walk again before the hand returned.  “Seriously Riza, it doesn’t-“

 

On the list of things he expected, Riza Hawkeye kissing him had never even come  _close_  to getting on.  But apparently his list wasn’t very accurate, because here she was, pulling him down to her and pressing her lips insistently against his.

 

It took his mind a second to catch up with what was happening, but as soon as it did, Roy took action.  His hands found her waist and pulled her close.  Pulling away, Riza looked up at him, breathing quickly and blushing slightly.

 

“Distracting?” Roy said in a voice that was definitely higher than he meant it to be.  Riza grinned and looked at his chest before looking back up at his face.

 

“I think the same could be said for you Mr. Mustang,” then she turned and ran down the path towards the house.

 

Roy stood there, dumbstruck and with tingling lips as he watched her go.  He glanced at the shirt in his hand and then at his bare chest before he came to a decision.

 

Maybe these hot days were worth it...

 

Yes, he decided.  His skin could boil as much as needed because the subsequent activities were more than welcome.  Smirking, Roy set off towards the house and found himself wishing for another hot day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> quick piece, I'm realizing I end my fics the same way everytime, man I have to work on that! hope you enjoyed!


	8. Telephone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roy Mustang never thought he'd actually appreciate an undercover mission...but here he was.

“So Jean and I will do our part and you and Mustang here will do yours,” Rebecca said as the car pulled to a stop.

           

“And please remember Riza, and you too Mustang, you’re too dense to not hear this again,” Roy opened his mouth to interrupt but closed it as he saw Rebecca’s glare.

 

“You two are also posing as a couple.  You’re young, in love, blinded by love’s bright light, all you see is eachother!” Roy could see Riza roll her eyes out of the corner of his vision and bit back a laugh.

 

“So for the love of everything holy, please just act like it so you don’t blow the damn mission!”  Rebecca glared at her friend until she got a slight and unconvincing nod.

 

“Try to follow what Jean and I do,” she said as stepped out of the car, taking the sandy-haired man’s arm that he had offered. “And if you can’t do that, well, we might have to put you on the spot."

 

Roy raised an eyebrow to the Lieutenant before exiting the car himself, stopping to also offer his arm to her.  She shot him a glare before lightly placing her hand in the crook of his elbow and looking anywhere but his face.

 

The bar itself wasn’t too shabby, in fact if Roy had to guess it would’ve been pretty high up on the list of Central’s best.  He was so engrossed in taking in the building that he didn’t notice that Riza had stopped right in front of him.  He bumped into her at the edge of the booth that Havoc and Rebecca had chosen, earning a sarcastic thumbs up from the man and an eye-roll from the woman.  Smiling sheepishly, he gestured for Riza to enter the small booth first, which won him a withering look, before he followed suit.

 

From there the night progressed slowly.  The four made idle small talk while they observed the bar for their suspect.  Roy thought it was going rather well, Havoc and Rebecca had total control of the conversation, which was probably for the best and had been a strategic decision.  He stirred his drink and tried to ignore the pressure of Hawkeye’s thigh against his.  He was going to have to ask Havoc about his choice in booths when he got the chance.  He was pretty sure that this was by far the smallest one available.

 

“Incoming at your 2 o’clock Havoc,” Riza muttered. Roy looked up to see a slight man entering the bar.  Finally, some action.

 

“Oh Honey,” Rebecca crooned, grabbing Havoc’s arm as she gestured to the table.  “I do believe that we should go get some appetizers from the bar.  Didn’t you have a phone call to make Roy?”  Roy translated the sentence in his head,  _we’ll guide him over towards the phone booth in the back and then the four of us can deal with him there._

 

“That’s a wonderful idea,” Havoc said, grinning widely, “We’ll be right back.”  Without so much as a second glance at a nervous Roy and a very exasperated Riza, the two left and headed off.

 

Riza turned to Roy.  “I believe you have a phone call to make sir,” Roy shot her a glare at her use of the honorific.  She rolled her eyes and got up from the booth.  “Well  _Roy_ ,” she said, “don’t you have a call to make?” Roy nodded at her before smiling widely and exiting the booth as well.

 

“Of course,” he said, throwing his arm around her as he guided them towards the back of the bar.  As soon as they were out of sight of the crowd, Roy quickly removed his arm and scanned the back room for the phone box.  It was too dim to make out much, but then again Riza had always had better vision than he did.  Nudging his arm lightly, she nodded towards the opposite wall where, sure enough, a small payphone was on the wall.

 

They had just stopped in front of it when Roy heard footsteps and Havoc’s bright laugh from around the corner.  He turned to Riza to tell her that they needed to act quickly, because there wasn’t enough time to actually call General Grumman as they had originally planned when he heard Riza mutter “no time” and suddenly found himself pushed up against the wall next to the phone.

 

A split second later Riza’s lips were on his, insistent and warm.  Roy was frozen, of all the things he was going to suggest they do, this was not even close to being one of them.  Though he wasn’t complaining, he had guessed that his Lieutenant would’ve most likely shot him before kissing him.

 

A soft jab in his stomach from her hand reminded him that he had a role to play.  Moving his hands from his sides he grasped her waist and brought her close to him, turning around so that her back was against the wall.  Her hands went to his hair and he couldn’t help the groan that escaped his throat as she tugged him even closer to her body.

 

“Oh how lovely!” Roy vaguely registered Rebecca’s loud voice coming closer with each second, but he couldn’t tell much more than that.  The blood rushing in his ears drowned out everything except for his heavy breathing and Riza’s short gasp of air as they broke apart.

 

Roy moved his attention to her neck, quickly moving her hair aside and lowering his lips to press against her ear.  Riza involuntarily moved closer to him as he kissed down her neck, and he was pretty sure that he heard an uncharacteristic squeak from her, but then again it very well could’ve been him.

 

“Ah, I see that there’s already a call going on,” a voice said as the footsteps halted closeby.  To his credit, Havoc’s voice was steady besides being met with his two superior officers making out in front of the telephone that they were supposed to be using to call General Grumman.

 

“I guess so,” Rebecca said, Roy could hear the smirk in her voice, but he paid no attention as Riza moved her lips back to his.

 

Suddenly she was gone and Roy was left facing an empty wall, breathing hard and only really disappointed.

 

A soft grunt from behind him signaled that her job was done.  Turning around, Roy was met with an unconscious man, a grinning Havoc who looked entirely too cocky for his own good, a beaming Rebecca and an out of breath and very visibly flustered Lieutenant Hawkeye.

 

“Uh-“ Roy started, but how could he explain what had just happened?

 

“We got here a little late and there wasn’t time to make the call,” Riza cut in, refusing to meet Roy’s gaze.

 

“So you kissed?” Havoc said, eyeing Roy with a smirk that was growing wider with each second.

 

“That wasn’t my fault actually,” Roy cut in, spreading his hands in what was hopefully a placating gesture.  Havoc quirked an eyebrow before his eyes widened and he faced Riza.

 

“The phone was going to take too long and if we were just standing there it was going to be suspicious,” she said, crouching next to the man and patting around in his jacket for any concealed weapons.

 

“So you kissed him,” Rebecca cut in, she was smiling. Riza looked up at her friend and rolled her eyes.

 

“I thought that part was obvious by now,” she said tiredly.  “Yes I kissed him, desperate times call for desperate measures.  I blame the phone and poor planning.”

 

"You know you could have just pretended that General Grumman was on the phone," Rebecca continued, grin spreading wider as the seconds ticked by.  Riza's face flushed a deep red Roy found very becoming on her, he shook the thought away.

 

"Maybe they just got too into playing the couple act," Havoc said, snaking his arm around Rebecca's waist.

 

"Mmmm, I guess it's just too easy for them," the woman said laughing as she pushed Havoc away.

 

"Not true," Roy muttered.

 

"I swear to god Rebecca just let it go!" Riza admonished.  Her friend winked and then took her hand and crouched next to her to where their target lay on the ground.

 

As the two women moved the man to the side of the room, as to avoid suspicion, Havoc turned to Roy.

 

“You’re a little red Chief,” Havoc laughed.  Roy glared at him and attempted to fix his surely mussed hair.

 

“Shut up Jean,” he retorted, straightening his tie from where Riza had pulled his lips to hers.

 

“You got to make out with the Lieutenant thanks to a telephone Boss, just think about it...pretty pathetic” the sandy-haired man said as he pulled out a cigarette.  Winking he continued, “better go thank it.”

 

Roy punched his subordinate’s arm as he felt his face redden.  As he watched Havoc walk over to where Riza was talking to Rebecca.

 

“Becca calm down and talk to me about what you found out- no Rebecca I am  _not_  discussing it- oh for the love of- would you please just _focus_!”

 

Going to follow, Roy considered what Havoc had said.  He had gotten to kiss Riza because of a stupid telephone.  Damn, maybe Jean was right, it  _was_  pretty pathetic.

 

Bending down to take the unconcious man's wallet for ID, Roy stole a glance at Riza, only to find her already looking at him.  Feeling his blush deepen, he turned away.  Pathetic, sure.  But  _totally_ worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my piece for "Telephone" for Royai Week 2015, I love undercover!


	9. Blindness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "“It’s the truth, Sir,” Hawkeye said evenly. Roy’s body tensed, and for a painful moment, the office was completely silent. By this time, even Falman had disengaged from his paperwork to watch the exchange. Breda looked on with cautious interest, Fuery still looked terrified, and Havoc knew that Hawkeye was treading in dangerous waters. The Colonel was about to loose it."

“You could’ve gotten hurt!” Roy yelled.  Havoc grimaced; the argument between the Colonel and the First Lieutenant had finally reached the point to where his superior officers were honestly annoyed with each other.  From here on out it was best to just stay out of it.  Beside him, Fuery started at Mustang’s raised voice, knocking a jar of small screws and colorful wires onto the floor with a loud clatter.  Hawkeye and Mustang paid no attention to the noise.

 

“With all due respect, sir,” Hawkeye said icily.  “It’s my job to protect you, even if it means giving up my life for yours.  It’s my duty to do so.  But if you continue to put your own life on the line to save mine Colonel, something will have to change.”  Havoc met Breda’s eyes over the file he was supposed to be reading and raised an eyebrow.  Breda shrugged and continued eating his sandwich, eyeing his two superior officers warily.  Roy snorted incredulously and looked down at Hawkeye.

 

“Like hell it will, Hawkeye,” he said quietly.  “I’m the superior officer here, and it is not up to you what I do for my subordinates.”

 

“It’s obviously up to me if it means you’re going to be a complete idiot and jump into a fight headfirst if anybody is in danger!”  Hawkeye glared at her commander before continuing.  “Sir, your safety is my priority and you’re making it very hard for me to do my job.”  Roy’s eyes narrowed but he said nothing.  Hawkeye took a breath before continuing her attack.

 

“What happened yesterday is a perfect example of this sir,” she said, carefully gauging his reaction to her words.  His eyes flashed at the mention of the violent encounter with the homunculus Gluttony the day before, and the original source of his outburst over Hawkeye’s safety.  “Fuery and I had the situation perfectly under-“

 

“You know damned well as I do that you didn’t have the situation under control Hawkeye!” Roy intervened, fists clenching at his sides.  Hawkeye opened her mouth to retort, but the Colonel continued; anger etched clearly on his face.

 

“That Homunculus tried to strangle you, and was going to eat you alive if Fuery hadn’t saved your ass!  I got there just in time seeing as you two were completely out of bullets and places to go!”  He took in a deep breath.  “Hawkeye I don’t give a shit if I revealed my involvement.  The thing that matters is that you and Fuery are safe!”  Beside Havoc, the man in question had slumped down in his seat, his ears tinged red in embarrassment at the Colonel’s outburst.  Hawkeye on the other hand just seemed angrier.

 

“Sir you don’t need to worry about us! Fuery could have gotten out just fine with Hayate; I’m expendable-“ she stopped, stiffening at the expression on Roy’s face.

 

“Expendable?” he asked quietly.  “Expendable!?”  His voice quivered with anger.

 

“It’s the truth, Sir,” Hawkeye said evenly.  Roy’s body tensed, and for a painful moment, the office was completely silent.  By this time, even Falman had disengaged from his paperwork to watch the exchange.  Breda looked on with cautious interest, Fuery still looked terrified, and Havoc knew that Hawkeye was treading in dangerous waters.  The Colonel was about to loose it.

 

“That’s the damn farthest thing from the truth I’ve ever heard Lieutenant,” he spoke softly, but the edge to his voice gave way to his true anger.  Hawkeye said nothing, and continued to stand still in front of her superior, but her hands were now clenched at her sides, subconsciously mirroring Mustang’s.

 

“Sir,” she began quietly, Mustang said nothing, still quietly seething at Hawkeye’s claim of inadequacy.  “We’re in the military.  As soldiers we’re conditioned to do the bidding of the higher brass.  We kill, we fight, and we die, all without question.  It’s the way the military works, Colonel.”  Mustang opened his mouth to respond, but stayed silent under the level glare from Hawkeye.  “Sir you know as well as I do that my loyalty is to you, but even then, it’s my responsibility to protect you as your bodyguard, adjutant and as your subordinate.  If keeping you alive means disobeying a direct order, so be it.  It’s what I joined the military to do sir, and it’s what I plan to continue doing.”

 

“Hawkeye I don’t-“ Mustang began before running a hand through his messy black hair, trying to gather his scattered thoughts.  “I don’t know what I would do without you,” he said finally, his voice low and filled with an emotion that Havoc couldn’t quite discern, but if he had to guess, he would say it was a hell of a lot of affection.  Hawkeye looked startled for a second before she gave Mustang a small, albeit sad, smile.

 

“I don’t plan on making you find that out, sir,” she replied.  Mustang let out a loud sigh and ran a hand over his face.  After a moment, he spoke again.

 

“It’s not that I don’t trust you on that Hawkeye,” he began, “it’s just that I don’t trust the damn world to not take you from me.”  He paused for a brief moment, looking almost nervous, before continuing on quickly, the words flowing out of his mouth before he could think about what he was actually saying.  “It’s not just that I don’t want to loose you, I can’t loose you.”

 

Havoc exchanged another look with Breda, but this one had more of a mischievous undertone to it.  'I told you so’ Havoc seemed to be saying. Breda rolled his eyes.  Havoc grinned before turning back to Mustang and Hawkeye.

 

Hawkeye hadn’t replied. But she smiled slightly, lips closed, but for once the smile reached her eyes.  She put a hand on Mustang’s shoulder.

 

“I know sir,” she said.  Mustang closed his eyes and took a deep breath.  Lavender, coffee, gunpowder, and ink met his nose, distinctly Hawkeye.  He felt himself relax.  She gave his shoulder a quick squeeze and started back to her desk.  It was all he could do to keep himself from reaching out and pulling her close to him.  Moments later, her pen began scratching; diligently doing the work she was assigned.  Mustang sighed and returned to his own desk, glaring at his own assigned work.

 

Havoc took a long breath of his cigarette and returned to the file in his hands.  It was ridiculous, he thought as he read the document tiredly, the amount they cared about each other, yet they couldn’t see it.  Havoc shook his head; somebody would have to be blind to not see that the two idiots were in love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A piece I had written prior to Royai Week 2015, but posted for "Blindness"


	10. Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Do you know how to dance?"..."No"..."Let me teach you..."

Riza Hawkeye watched from the hall as her friend moved gracefully around in the small kitchen at almost 10:00 at night.  His eyes were closed and his head nodded in time to the music playing softly from the record player perched in the corner.  She was surprised to see that Roy Mustang knew how to dance given the fact that he was lanky, clumsy, and completely ridiculous 17-year-old city boy.  She watched as he stepped in time before moving swiftly into a small spin and then suddenly opening his eyes and meeting her gaze mid turn.

 

_Oh no._

 

His eyes were wide and shock was evident on his feature.  His mouth opened and he stammered something unintelligible as his face went bright red.  Riza could imagine she looked similar.  Her face felt hot as she backed away from the doorway and muttered a quiet apology before scampering towards the staircase, intent on her escape. She hadn’t made it ten feet before she felt a hand on her shoulder.  Whipping around she found herself face to face with Roy.

 

“I’m sorry Mr. Mustang,” she quietly, “I didn’t realize I had made you uncomfortable.”  She turned to go up the stairs and walked a few steps before he grabbed her hand.  Turning around once again, she saw the boy shaking his head.

 

“You didn’t make me uncomfortable Riza,” he said, “you just startled me, that’s all.”  She looked at him for a second before he blushed and dropped her hand and rubbing his neck nervously.

 

“Do you know how to dance?” he asked.  Riza’s heart plummeted.  When she was younger, before her mother had died, she had watched her parents dance every Sunday night to the local radio station.  She had begged to take lessons, and her mother promised that as soon as she was old enough, she would take her to learn.  But then she had died and her father had become reclusive and cold.  Riza had brought up the subject once, and his reaction made it clear to never speak of it again.

 

“No,” she said, not meeting his eyes.  Roy looked at her for a moment before seemingly coming to a decision.

 

“Let me teach you,” he said suddenly. 

 

“Teach me?” she replied.  He nodded.

 

“It’d be fun,” he said.

 

“I would hate to be a bother,” she responded.

 

“Nonsense, I need a break from all of this work your father is giving me, it’s like he doesn’t want me to see the light of day ever again.”  Riza smiled slightly.

 

“All right Mr. Mustang,” she said as she passed him and walked towards the kitchen.  “Let’s see what you can do.“

 

* * *

 

Roy couldn’t help his shaking fingers as he put on a new record.  Riza stood in the middle of the room and was brushing off her dress as he tinkered unnecessarily with the record player until his fingers were still.

 

“Alright,” he said, approaching her in the middle.  “Uh, so pretty much you….um.  I’m going to uh…” Rolling her eyes, Riza grabbed his hands; placing one on her waist, holding the other aloft, and her free hand went to his bicep.   Roy swallowed before opening his mouth to ask if she really didn’t know how to dance.

 

“My parents used to dance,” she said softly, looking somewhere over his right shoulder, “this is all I know.”

 

“Oh.”  Mentally kicking himself for his super intelligent response, Roy paused again, trying to get himself to stop just staring at her face like an idiot.

 

“So where do we go from now?” she asks, suddenly meeting his gaze.  Roy blushed before blinking and looking down at their feet.

 

“Uh well it’s not too hard actually,” he said, trying to get his confidence back.  “It only took my sisters a couple of hours to teach me, although I wasn’t voluntarily learning so I guess that’s something to consider…” Riza laughed quietly and Roy felt his heart skip.   _Calm down_ , he told himself.   _Don’t you dare mess this up_.  So much for the whole confidence thing.

 

“Pretty much we both do our separate things, and it’s important that we both do our parts correctly and then it’s kind of easy to put it all together.”

 

“So what are the steps?” She asked him, patience clearly starting to wear thin.  Roy felt his face flush.

 

“Right.”  He cleared his throat and tried to ignore the feeling of her waist under his hand. “First I step backwards with my left foot and you step forward with your right foot.”  He did so slowly, and Riza followed suit.

 

“Great, uh now do the same with your left.”  He stepped back and her foot followed quickly.

 

“Okay now it kind of switches here…you step back with your left,” Riza did, and Roy stepped forward with his right.  “And I’ll do that.  Um, now do the same with your other foot.”  

 

Riza executed his command flawlessly and once again Roy found himself thinking that he wouldn’t be surprised if Riza had danced before despite her insisting she hadn’t. “We can also move sideways,” Roy said.  Riza looked up from their feet and nodded, a determined glint in her eyes.

 

“All right,” Roy paused before clearing his throat.

 

“All right?” she echoed, raising an eyebrow. Roy blushed before explaining.  

 

“For this part it’s easiest to be closer, but uh if you don’t want to that’s fine it’s not really totally necessary but it does make it easier and I mean-“ Roy’s babbling was cut off by Riza stepping close and looking up at his face.

 

“Like this?” she asked.  He could swear she was silently laughing at him.

 

“Uh, yeah.” Roy really needed to learn how to talk around her.

 

“Great.”

 

“Um so here you step to the side with your left foot and I’ll step with my right.”  Not waiting for his next instruction, Riza stepped to the left and Roy hastily followed.

 

“Now the other way.”  They stepped to the right.  The two swayed back and forth for a few minutes before Roy finally spoke up again.

 

“That’s pretty much it,” he said as the record came to an end.  Riza looked at him before disengaging herself, walking over to the record, choosing anew record and coming back over to Roy.

 

“I need to practice,” she told him as she saw his surprised look.

 

“Oh…yeah that makes sense.”  He thought she might have rolled her eyes as she placed her hand on his arm and grabbing his hand.  Belatedly he placed his hands on her waist and the record started. There was no denying that Riza caught on very quickly to the steps, and soon the two were dancing gracefully around the kitchen.

 

As the song went on, Roy became more and more comfortable with their dance and finally got the nerve up to spin her.  Despite the abrupt move, Riza completed the move beautifully and they were dancing once again. The pair danced for a few more minutes, still not making eye contact and trying to ignore the proximity of one another.  Roy found himself wanting to get closer, but his stupid nerves wouldn’t allow him to do much past barely tighten his grip on her hand.

 

Suddenly Riza closed the gap between them and pressed herself up against him. Roy must have made a sound, because Riza looked up at him and finally met his gaze.  Her eyes sparkled as she smirked at him before resting her head on his chest.  His heart stuttered again.

 

Smiling as he wrapped his arms tighter around her, Roy found himself thinking that there were worst ways to avoid studying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my piece for the final day of Royai Week 2015, prompt "Past"  
> I'm such trash for royai and specifically young!royai SEND HELP


	11. Drawing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Written for the generated prompts Hawkeye drawing Mustang and Mustang drawing Hawkeye

“Excuse me for saying so, Sir,” Hawkeye said as she eyed the pencil in her hand warily, “but I fail to see how this is relevant to the task at hand.”  Roy smirked at his subordinate’s confusion and laughed.

 

“Trust me Hawkeye,” Roy said, still smirking.  The woman narrowed her eyes as her Superior approached her desk.  Reaching his destination, the Colonel leaned against her desk casually.  “I’ve given you the order Lieutenant,” he said, grinning widely.  “Please don’t make me do it again.”

 

Hawkeye sighed as she readjusted the paper on her desk and gave the Colonel a hard look as her hand began drawing sweeping curves.  Roy moved his head to take a look at the paper and was immediately greeted by a swat on the arm.

 

“So you do enjoy just being able to look at me don’t you Lieutenant,” Roy snorted.  Hawkeye glared at him before returning to her task.

 

“With all due respect Colonel,” she said dryly, “I was given an order and I will complete it.”  At the view of his widening grin, she continued.  “But Sir, please keep in mind that I have multiple guns on my person and I will not hesitate to utilize them if needed.”

 

“That won’t be needed,” Roy said, pushing off the desk.  He snatched up the paper, ignoring Hawkeye’s small sound of protest and examined it thoughtfully.  “Not too shabby Lieutenant, maybe I should have you draw me more often.”

 

Hawkeye simply rolled her eyes and discarded the pencil, and returned to signing the countless papers on her desk, trying to get rid of the miniscule smile spreading on her face.

 

* * *

 

“Don’t move a muscle Hawkeye,” Roy says suddenly.  Hawkeye looks up abruptly, meeting her superior’s gaze with a small amount of apprehension.  She gives him a questioning look.  He merely smiles and repeats himself firmly.  She narrows her eyes but nods tersely.

 

Roy doesn’t say anything for about fifteen minutes, simply looking from his subordinate to his desk and back, his pencil making lazy movements.  Eventually Hawkeye looses her patience.  She huffs and glares at the Colonel.

 

“With all due respect Sir,” she says loudly, “what exactly are you doing?”

 

Smirking, Roy moves the pencil a few more times and then stands, grabbing a piece of paper and walking over to her desk.  He sets the paper down and returns to his own desk and begins to shuffle through the stack of documents needing his attention.  Hawkeye looks at the paper hesitantly.

 

She is met with a somewhat realistic portrait of herself.   Somehow the Colonel even managed to capture the look of affectionate annoyance on her face.  Rolling her eyes, she moves to set the paper down on her desk when something catches her eye.  In Roy’s scrawling script a simple message is written:

 

_In appreciation of the Hawk’s Eye, all a man could ever need. – RM_

 

Hawkeye smiled slightly before folding and pocketing the drawing.  If Roy noticed it, he definitely didn’t grin before quickly beginning to sign documents.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going through some old writing (man I actually have a lot of it) and found this two part piece, super short, but thought I'd share!


	12. Something I Need

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The seperation of the Colonel and Lietuenant was rough on both of them...

Riza slid down to the ground slowly, not bothering to even properly hang up her phone. A quiet whimper broke her from her reverie.

 

“His timing is uncanny, isn’t it boy?” she said softly, picking up the pup. Hayate nuzzled his nose into her embrace. “What was he thinking? Calling me like that. He’ll just get us discovered…” Hayate whined and shifted in her arms. “Idiot man…”

 

Riza didn't want to move. After her encounter with Pride, her body ached and her cut stung. For the first time in her life, she was reluctant to turn off the lights, lest the creature appear in her apartment. She had never been afraid of the dark before, but she supposed that there was a first for everything. Between the low tick of the clock and the warm mass of fur in her arms, Riza quickly fell into a restless sleep.

 

* * *

 

 

“Spit it out boy,” Madame Christmas said as she passed Roy another glass of whiskey.

 

Taking the glass drowsily, Roy shook his head. “There’s nothing to be said Madame,” he said bleakly, bringing the glass up to his lips again. A manicured hand grasped the shot glass and took it from his hold. Looking up, Roy was startled to find anger on her face.

 

“What it is,” she said sternly. Roy said nothing and looked back at his hands.

 

“Roy,” Chris said softly, “is it something with Elizabeth?” Roy stiffened and remained silent. “C’mon now boy,” she sighed. A pause. “Is she alright? Did that bastard hurt her?” Roy ran a hand over his face and closed his eyes. “Roy Mustang tell me what is happening or so help me-“

 

“I don’t know!” he cried out suddenly. “I don’t know I don’t know.” He gripped his hair and gritted his teeth. “The bastard could’ve hurt her and I wouldn’t know. I can’t know. I haven’t seen her for weeks now, it’s killing me.”

 

“I’m a pawn now Chris,” Roy said grimly, “and my Queen is in danger and there’s nothing I can do.”

 

“Bullshit.” Chris said determinedly. Roy looked up at her, his dark eyes swimming with too many emotions for Chris to understand, anger, pain, confusion, desperation, and love. “That is bullshit Roy-boy and you know it.” Roy made a choked sound and gestured widely.

 

“I’m powerless Chris,” he whispered. “The whole military is against me.”

 

“You still have her don’t you?” Chris asked.

 

“I don’t deserve her,” he groaned. Chris snapped her fingers in front of his face.

 

“Look at me Roy,” she said firmly. “That woman has followed you through hell and vowed to repeat that journey and to remain at your side. That’s the woman you’ve entrusted your life to. But right now? Yes, you’re right, you don’t deserve her because you’re sitting on your drunken ass complaining to an old woman when you should be out there trying your damned best to get her back-“ Roy opened his mouth to intervene before Chris glared at him. “Don’t you dare interrupt me now young man. You’re going to get up, walk out of here, drive to that woman’s apartment and make sure she is all right. I don’t give a damn about rules or regulations. It’s been enough years of those. You go make sure that lovely woman who has believed in you no matter what is okay. You’re going to make sure that the woman you love is okay.” Roy stiffened slightly at her final words before his body relaxed completely. He was quiet for a minute before finally speaking again.

 

“Damn,” he muttered, screwing his face up as he fought back the plethora of emotions threatening to break through his carefully maintained façade. “Dammit Aunt Chris, you’re right as usual.” He took a deep breath before standing up and pushing the bar stool behind him forcefully. “I’ve got to go.” With that the young man turned and walked briskly out of the bar’s front door.

 

“Stubborn fool,” Chris muttered as the door closed behind him, “damned fool.”

 

* * *

 

 

Riza awoke to an insistent knocking at her door. Blinking wearily, she looked across the room to the small alarm clock on her bedside table. The time swam into vision, red numbers piercing her weary eyes. _1:04_ am. Groaning, Riza stood slowly, stretching out the kinks in her muscles as she went. She had been asleep for an hour tops. Sighing quietly, she reached for her small handgun before padding over to the door.

 

Undoing the lock and peering through the small crack into the cramped hallway, she was met with Colonel Roy Mustang.

 

“Lieutenant,” Roy said roughly. “I’m sorry if I woke you.” He rubbed at the back of his neck nervously as Riza took in his appearance. Crumpled military blues, disheveled black hair and insistent onyx eyes. Seconds passed in silence.

 

“Please Hawkeye…” Roy’s voice wavered slightly and all at once Riza was hit with a wave of emotions she had been doing her level best to conceal. Swallowing the sudden lump in her throat, Riza nodded before opening the door to allow Roy in.

 

He hadn’t been to her apartment much since the transfer to Central, and the few times he had it had been to either drop off papers or pick up more work to do at his own residence. It was new to see his usually prim Lieutenant so unkempt.

 

“Tea, sir?” Riza asked suddenly as Roy closed the door behind himself. Her voice was soft and measured, not revealing any of the emotions threatening to spill out from behind it.

 

“Please.” He sat on her small couch as she entered her small kitchen and watched soundlessly as she busied herself preparing the drink. Minutes later she walked out, two cups of tea in hand. Handing one to him, she curled up in the armchair opposite the couch and watched him as he blew on the steaming liquid. Both were quiet as they sat there, neither knowing what exactly could be said.

 

“I needed to know,” Roy said softly, finally breaking the silence.

 

“Know what, sir,” Riza replied, not taking her eyes off of her tea. Roy sighed.

 

“That you were all right, Hawkeye,” he said. Riza stiffened. “That phone call was anything but reassuring.”

 

“Colonel I’m fi-“

 

“Don’t tell me that,” Roy interrupted. “I want to know the truth.” Riza looked up at him before taking a long sip of her tea. He mirrored her and waited for her to respond. By the time she replied, his tea was gone thanks to his nervous swigs.

 

“What should I say then, sir?”

 

“Nothing.” Riza hesitated before getting up and taking both her and Roy’s mugs back to the kitchen.

 

As the dishes clattered in the sink, Roy stood and walked into the kitchen. He stood behind Riza as she rinsed the mugs. Suddenly he noticed her hands were shaking.

 

Carefully putting his hands on her shoulders, he waited until she let go of the mug before turning her around. In the dim light provided by the lamp on the table, Roy could vaguely make out a cut on her cheek. He reached out, touching it lightly despite his twisting stomach.

 

“He hurt you,” he whispered. Riza sighed and looked up at him, shaking her head.

 

“It’s not your fault, don’t even begin to think this is your fault,” she replied softly. Roy bit his lip and examined her face. Her eyes followed his as he looked at her cheek, forehead, hair, nose and finally her lips.

 

Suddenly Riza found herself enveloped in his embrace, his arms wrapped around her protectively and desperately, as if she would slip away at any second. She inhaled sharply before allowing herself to relax into his arms. She buried her head into his neck and wrapped her arms around him tentatively. His hand went to cradle her head against his chest as he rested his chin on top of her hair. They stood there for a minute.

 

“I miss you, Riza,” he said suddenly. Sighing sadly, Riza tightened her embrace slightly.

 

“I miss you too,” she said softly before pulling away. “Be careful...Roy…please.” He nodded and smiled slightly, looking at her once again. His eyes searched her face before resting on the cut on her cheek. Quicker than she could follow, he leaned down and pressed his lips against the healing scratch.

 

Exiting her apartment, he looked back at her and gave her a reassuring nod.

 

“You too, Hawkeye, I need my Queen back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Imagine person A always burying their face in person B's neck every time they hug...
> 
> Inspired by "Something I Need" by One Republic, a painfully Royai song.


	13. Constant

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For them the other had always been a constant...

Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye rubs her eyes wearily, sighing quietly as she glances at the small clock on her desk.  Friday night and she was still working at 11:45.  Havoc, Breda, Falman and Fuery had all left the office hours ago, leaving for home, or the local bar for Breda and Havoc.  She had been given the choice to leave, but had promptly declined, stating that she had more work to do, which was the truth.  Besides, Riza just couldn’t make herself leave the Colonel alone tonight, despite his claims that he would be just fine by himself.

 

Riza spares a glance towards her superior officer.  As she expected, Colonel Mustang sits at his desk, his head resting on his arms, fast asleep.  She thinks that if she looks closely, she would probably see some drool coming out of his mouth.

 

Sighing, Riza pushes her chair away from her desk and gets up, approaching the sleeping man.  When she reaches his side, she puts a hand on his shoulder.  Startled by the sudden contact, Roy's hand jerks, accidently pushing a stack of unsigned papers off his desk.

 

Realizing what he has done Roy mumbles, "shit."  He puts his face in his hands as the last document flutters to the ground.  Immediately, Riza bends down and begins to collect the papers.  The Colonel remains quiet as he too bends down to help, and soon the only noise in the office comes from the clock back on Riza’s desk and the quiet shuffling of the papers between them.

 

“You should get some sleep, sir,” Riza says softly.  The Colonel groans and remains silent.  She waits a moment before she tries again.  “Colonel, with all due respect it is a Friday night and surely you have something better to do than sit in this office and get nothing done.”  The Colonel says nothing for a moment before he turns to face her.

 

“You’re right Lieutenant,” he replies quietly, trying hard to ignore how the faint light in the office has lit up his subordinate’s face and how the snow falling peacefully, silently, gracefully outside has given him a sense of calm and control that he hasn’t felt in forever.  He feels tempted to reach out and take her hand in his own.  Shaking the thought, he rises from his desk, stretching slowly in a lame attempt at waking himself up enough to get home.

 

Riza does her best not to stare as the Colonel’s standard issue military jacket strains against his chest as he raises his arms.  She really does need sleep if she's thinking like that.  Placing the pile of documents on Roy's desk, she turns away and walks silently over to her desk.  “Would you like a ride home sir?” she asks after a moment.

 

“That would be great Lieutenant,” he replies, without a moment’s hesitation.  The two work in tandem, closing the office for the night and exiting the building together, Riza the standard two steps behind and to the left of her superior.

 

* * *

The building’s door opens soundlessly into the blanket of white that had settled over Central.  The two walk briskly over to the Lieutenant’s car and enter the vehicle hastily, trying to get out of the frigid air.  Riza turns the key as her companion buckles, but is met with a stagnant silence that makes her spirits fall considerably.  She tries again, waiting for the roar of the engine coming to life, and is again met with a disappointing silence.  She lets out a quiet curse.  The cold must’ve killed the engine.  Sighing she turns to Roy, who tries and fails to conceal a small smirk.

 

“Something funny sir?” she asks coldly.  Roy simply shakes his head.  Riza sighs, and the Colonel lets out a small puff of breath that Riza identifies as a laugh.  She glares at him.

 

“Shall we walk Lieutenant?” he asks, opening the car door and stepping out into the cold night air.  Finding no other alternatives, Riza nods reluctantly and follows.

 

* * *

The two walk in a companionable silence towards the apartment complexes that house many of the military personnel in Central.  The air has gotten considerably chillier since they left the building and the snow hasn’t let up.  The two soldiers subconsciously move towards each other, seeking warmth on the late December night.  The movement went unnoticed between them until Roy’s hand grazed Riza’s.  The effect was almost immediate.   As fiercely as polar facing magnets, the two separated, jumping apart as if an electric shock had gone between them, which in a strange way, it had.  They pause in the middle of the sidewalk, neither saying a word.

 

“Sorry,” Hawkeye says quietly, not meeting her superior’s eyes.  Roy simply laughs, the sound muffled by the layer of snow lying over the city.  Riza can’t help but turn to face Roy now, her hand still tingling from the accidental touch.  Roy looks at his Lieutenant, she looked even more beautiful out here, under nothing but the faint glow of the streetlamps and the soft snowfall surrounding them.

 

“Don’t worry about it Riza,” he says, then quickly scolds himself for using her first name.  _Riza_.  How long had it been since her name had rolled off the tip of his tongue?  It was like second nature, the way her name fell out of his mouth like that, second nature, and very ridiculous.  He watches as a blush creeps up her neck and into her cheeks.  Hand going to rub the back of his neck nervously, he stammers out a hasty apology, stopping only when he hears her laugh quietly.  He could have sworn in that moment that his heart stopped completely.  Riza Hawkeye had actually laughed.

 

The sound was simple, low and melodic, and a sound that Roy was okay with hearing for the rest of his life.  He looks at her again.  She was smiling now, probably over whatever dumb things he had said in his lame attempt at an apology for his actions.  He couldn’t stop the stupid grin from forming on his face as he watched her laugh, fascinated by the way her eyes lit up and her mouth opened as she laughed quietly in the quiet night.  Realizing what she was doing, Roy watched as her hand went to cover her mouth, _no_ , he thought, suddenly frustrated, _don’t stop_.  As if it had a mind of it’s own, his own hand reached out and caught hers.

 

He watched sheepishly as her eyes widened at his touch, this time it was intentional.  This time there was no simple apology, there was no way he could pass this off as an accident, no excuse for his simple need to touch her, to know that she was there and she was his.  Her hand fit in his perfectly, small, rough and callused from years upon years of handling a gun with decisive precision.  A small part of his mind knew he shouldn’t be doing this, a small part of his mind reminded him that all these years he had avoided touching her for this exact reason.  Because here he was, giving into his stupid emotions, acting on feelings he had harbored for countless years.  Holding the hand of his _Lieutenant_ for crying out loud.  Then the voice quieted suddenly, because Riza held his hand back.  She looked at him with bright eyes filled with curiosity and awe and embarrassment, and he looked right back.

 

He looked down at their hands, carefully moving his own so that her fingers were intertwined with his.  She didn’t move, she barely breathed as she watched him, tall and dark and sturdy, the perfect man of mystery and loyalty and duty, unwind before her eyes.  Gone was his stoic attitude and confidence.  Before her was a version of the man she would follow into hell if he asked her to, that she had never seen before.  Before her, the celebrated Flame Alchemist and well renowned war hero Roy Mustang looked nervous.

 

She wasn’t sure what did it, maybe it was the lack of sleep, maybe it was the cold, maybe it was the snow or the way the light fell on his face, or maybe it was the look in his eyes of absolute awe as he stared down at their intertwined hands, or maybe it was because she just suddenly needed to do it.  Throwing all caution into the wind, she surged forward and placed her lips on his.   His small grunt of surprise and the squeeze of her hand was all she needed.  One of her hands rested on his strong chest and the other remained in his.  A small part of her mind told her to stop, because this was not right, because if anybody saw them the trouble and paperwork to follow would be unbelievable.  Part of her mind screamed at her that she had avoided his touch for this exact reason, because she had been worried that a simple gesture would turn to a kiss, and she had been right.  But she ignored that part of her mind, the part that muttered _fraternization_ disapprovingly while her lips were on his.

 

And then he kissed her back.  The hand not holding hers so tightly went to the small of her back where he pulled her toward him softly, carefully as if not to startle her.  Part of her mind registered that he was a good kisser, but the thought didn’t last long when Roy’s teeth pulled softly on her bottom lip.  She groaned softly and sank into his embrace.  It seemed like barely a second had passed before he drew away, but keeping their noses and foreheads touching.  They stood there for a moment, breathing the cold air in greedily, eyes closed as they enjoyed the fleeting moment.  And then he spoke.

 

“Riza,” he said softly.  He skimmed his thumb across her palm, as he held her close.  “Riza…” he murmured her name again, a small smile playing on his lips.  “Riza.” He sounded more sure now, he grinned stupidly, gazing at their hands and laughed.  At last she responded.

 

“Roy,” she whispered, a small smile on her face.  The name felt alien in her mouth.  Seldom did she use his first name, being in the military it was frowned upon.  But in this moment, they weren’t in the military.  They were just Riza and Roy, as they always had been and always would be.  The timid young girl turned a sturdy woman and the curious young boy turned a sure and resolute man.  Inseparable until the end, always covering, always caring for each other.  Riza who would follow him into hell, and Roy who would give up his life for hers in a blink of an eye.  The two strongest people turned weak by the other.  Who walked home that night, hand in hand, silently, and who would never stray from the other’s side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> straight up fluff I found when I was organizing some files on my computer, one of the first things I wrote, hope you liked it!


	14. Silver Studded

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A 19 year old Roy Mustang probably couldn't be blushing more than he is now...

"Riza?"

 

The deep voice accompanying the quiet knock on the door frame startles Riza from her book.  Looking up, she is met with the quickly reddening face of the gangly 19 year old boy living with her and her father.

 

"Mister Mustang," she replies, bookmarking her page and setting the tattered book aside.  Adjusting the blanket covering her lap she addresses him, "can I help you with something?"

 

Roy's face seems to go even redder before he seemingly collects his thoughts.  Clearing his voice, he answers her question, "yes actually, I have something I wanted to show you, I mean… your opinion on…wait no, I wanted to ask you about, I-"

 

"Go ahead," she interrupts, suppressing the urge to roll her eyes.  If the boy would simply just ask her the question instead of beating around the bush, she would save so much time, but she can't help but find his nervousness oddly endearing.

 

"Well it's more of a…physical issue…" he trails off, rubbing the back of his neck with the hand not leaning against the door frame.

 

"A physical issue…" she repeats.

 

"Yeah."

 

"All right," she says exasperatedly.  "And where is this…physical issue located?"

 

"Outside."

 

"Outside…" she raises an eyebrow.  Seeing her hesitation, Roy shakes his head and strides over to where she's sitting.  Taking her hand, he pulls her up, ignoring the blanket that falls as a result, and drags her out into the hall.

 

"Mister Mustang!" she yelps, trying to ignore how warm and comforting his hand is around hers.  He doesn't say anything and just continues towards the stairs that lead towards the back.  Sighing, and seeing no choice but to follow, she steps up behind him.

 

"Where exactly are you taking me," she asks, skipping a step in order to keep up with him.  Roy merely turns around and grins.  He takes her other hand in his so now he is guiding her forwards as he walks backwards.

 

"You'll see."

 

He steps outside and stops, dropping her hands.  He raises his index finger in a 'hold on' gesture as he turns and jogs over to the edge of the clearing.  Bending down, he grabs something from behind a stack of wood, and then jogs back.  When he reaches her, his right hand is clenched shut.

 

"All right," he says, taking another step closer, "do you know what day it is today?"

 

"February 14th," Riza responded, "why?"

 

"Valentine's Day Riza," he replies, rolling his eyes, "it's Valentine's Day."

 

"I don't see what that has to with anythi-" she stops as Roy opens his fist and holds its contents up to her face.

 

"Everything."

 

She inhales when she registers what he is holding out to her.  Two small silver stud earrings sparkle in the low evening light.  When she looks up, Roy grins down at her nervously.

 

"They're for you," he pauses, "Happy Valentine's Day, Riza."

 

She takes them from his open palm and holds them up to her eyes, looking at the small items.

 

"I-" she starts before breaking off, something clicking in her head.

 

"Mister Mustang, how did you afford these? They're beautiful…"  Roy's face flushes and his hand attaches itself to the back of his neck.

 

"I uh- I didn't afford them…I made them."  Riza lets out a huff of pleased disbelief.

 

"You made them?"

 

"Yeah…"

 

"With Alchemy?"

 

He nods.

 

"Behind a stack of logs?"

 

Roy blushes and gives her a small, teasing glare.

 

Smiling now, Riza repeats herself, "they're _beautiful_."  Looking up at her sheepishly grinning friend, she feels her own smile widen.

 

"Thank you."

 

"My pleasure," he replies, "I'm really glad you like them, they aren't even that good…"

 

"Don't be ridiculous," she admonishes, "I love them, and they're perfect."  The boy rubs his neck.  Standing on her tip toes, she presses a kiss to his cheek.

 

"Besides, they're from you, I couldn't not love them if I tried," even the tips of Roy's ears are red now.

 

"Happy Valentine's Day, Roy."

 

Roy's grin widens as he looks down at her.

 

"Happy Valentine's Day, Riza."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just something short I zipped out to celebrate today, Happy Valentine's Day everyone!


	15. Equivalent Exchange

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> one playing with the other's hair  
> Roy gets distracted easily

"Dammit!" Edward muttered under his breath.

 

Taking care to not move her head Riza asked, "what is it?"

 

Ed sighed, "I'm still not used to this damn arm."  Riza couldn't help but smile.

 

"Your flesh arm," she said.  She heard rustling, most likely Ed nodding, before the boy said yes after realizing Riza couldn't see his face.

 

"Well it does give Winry one less thing to worry about," Riza said, fidgeting with her small silver stud earrings.

 

"Right," Ed said.  Suddenly the hands braiding her hair ceased and the room was silent for a moment.

 

"Edward?"  No response, just a sharp inhale.  Riza turned around.  Ed was standing behind the chair, hands still, eyes wide, and cheeks red.  She tried again, "Ed?"

 

The boy turned to her.

 

"Lieutenant," he began, coming to stand in front of her.  "I'm getting married."

 

Riza was about to correct him to Captain, or just Hawkeye, or even Riza, but decided against it.  _So that's what this is about.._.  "Yes," she replied.  Ed swallowed.

 

"Today."

 

Riza smiled softly.  "Yes."

 

"To Winry…"  the boy trailed off.

 

"Yes."

 

Suddenly Ed was pacing, running a hand through his hair he started muttering something.  Riza leaned forward trying to catch it.

 

"Hydrogen, Helium, Lithium, Beryllium, Boron, Carbon, Nitrogen…"  _The Periodic Table?_

 

Sighing, Riza got up from her seat and walked over to the boy, placing a hand on his shoulder to stop him.  Ed looked at her.  Suddenly Riza was struck with just how grown up the boy had become.  In the afternoon light streaming through the windows short blond stubble was visible on the boy's chin, which was just level with Riza's eyes.  _My how he's grown…_

 

"Edward," she said guiding the boy back to the chair where she had been sitting.  "Listen to me."  Ed looked up, worry still etched on his face.  "How long have you and Winry known each other?"

 

"Huh?"

 

Patiently, Riza repeated, "How long have you two known each other?"  Ed's answer was immediate.

 

"All of our lives…"

 

"And have you two ever had any issues before?"

 

Ed thought for a second.  Frowning, he said, "well not really…but we do fight a lot-"

 

"Edward that's not fighting," Riza interjected.

 

"What?" Ed shook his head, "no I'm pretty sure that's fighting."

 

"Were there ever malicious intents?"  Ed shook his head.  "Then I wouldn't call it fighting," Riza said.  Putting her hand on Ed's shoulder once again she continued.

 

"I would call that really, really, caring about someone."  Ed was quiet, then he turned to her, amusement clear on his face.

 

"So that's what you and Colonel Bastard do," Ed said, grinning, all worries temporarily forgotten.  Riza kept her face neutral, but could feel Edward's eyes catching on to her despite the attempt.

 

"You know he's a General now, Ed."

 

The boy laughed, "whatever he is he's still a bastard."  He sobered once again.

 

"I guess you are right though," a quick pause, "Winry is incredible.  I really don't think there's anyone I'd rather spend the rest of my life with."  Edward flushed.

 

"Wait-" he stammered.  "D-don't tell her- anyone- I said that," Edward got up and waved his hands.  "Oh man no, no, no, that was so _weird_!"  Riza laughed, she couldn't help it.  Despite saving the world and getting his brother's body back like he had worked so hard to do, simply thinking about Winry could still make him go red.

 

There was a knock on the door before Alphonse stepped in, dressed in a sharp looking suit fitting for his position of Edward's Best Man.

 

"There you are Brother!" he exclaimed.  "I was looking all over for you!  We need you downstairs, a photo.  I promised Granny I'd find you."

 

"Well look no further," Ed said as he walked towards Al.  Stopping he turned to look at Riza who was watching the two.

 

"Shit Lieut- Captain…I didn't finish braiding your hair," Ed said putting a palm on his face.

 

"No worries Edward," Riza said as she walked over to where the boy was standing.  "I have someone who can help me.  Go take those photos."

 

Edward looked at her and nodded, golden eyes looking far too perceptive once again.  "All right Captain," he said.  "Let's go Al, let's get this damn thing over with."

 

* * *

 

Grumbling quietly, Roy examined his reflection in the mirror.  Frowning, he tugged on the right leaf of his bowtie.  He cursed at the resulting appearance, which was even worse than before.  He continued to adjust the straps until he was interrupted by a knock on his bedroom door.

 

"Hold on," he yelled as he exited the small bathroom.  His right hand still fiddled with the accessory as he swung open the door with his left.  He was met with the now slightly apprehensive face of his Captain.

 

"Oh, hello Captain," he said, attempting to pull his hand out of the bowtie.  However his struggle was cut short when his thumb was stuck in a tight knot that had formed through all his adjusting.  He heard Riza sigh and he looked up at her sheepishly.

 

"Can I help with anything?"  Riza nodded and gestured to her hair.

 

"Edward was very sweet and offered to braid it for me, but Alphonse had to borrow him for some pictures before he could finish.  I was wondering if you could maybe…."  She trailed off, most likely realizing that in the eyes of some stricter military brass that this simple action of braiding hair could be viewed as fraternization.

 

He waved away her unspoken concern with his free hand as he stepped aside to let her in.  Closing the door behind her, he followed as she walked to sit on the edge of the bed.

 

"If it isn't too much trouble…I really can't get this to work," he tugged at his bowtie again, only succeeding in making the knot tighter around his thumb.  He heard a small huff of amusement as she situated herself so he could sit beside her.

 

"I think I might have to seeing as you do need both hands to braid hair," she said, turning so she was facing him, "and equivalent exchange and all."  Roy smirked as he turned so she could have better access to the tie.

 

And suddenly he was struck by just how close she was.

 

He could smell lavender on her, and the ever-present scent of ink and black coffee, though much less due to their time away from the office.  Swallowing a suddenly dry throat, he continued their conversation.

 

"What do you want to bet the Shrimp mentions equivalent exchange in his vows?" Riza's amused gaze flicked up to his face before she refocused on her task.

 

"According to Winry he used the principle in his proposal," Roy hummed as she continued to fiddle with the knot around his thumb.  "Asked her to give him half of his life in exchange for half of his…" she trailed off, describing a few more details that Winry had shared with her, but Roy couldn't focus.

 

She wasn't in her dress yet, but he could tell Rebecca had made her rounds and gotten to Riza.  She was made up, just slightly, but enough that Roy's attention was drawn to different features that were highlighted.  Taking advantage of the close proximity and the lack of prying eyes, he studied her face.  Had she always had that light dusting of freckles on her nose?  He couldn't remember.  Suddenly he was met with a questioning amber gaze.

 

"Did you hear what I just said sir?" she asked, frowning slightly at being met with him already looking at her.

 

"Hmm?"

 

Sighing Riza tugged on one of the straps of his bowtie, and his hand fell free.

 

"Ah, thank you," he said, rubbing his thumb in an attempt to get the blood flowing once again.  On a list of moments he was least proud of, this was definitely among them.  How did he even manage to tie himself in the bowtie but not actually make the accessory presentable?

 

There was a small silence, not quite uncomfortable, but just on the edge of waiting for someone to say something.  After a few moments, Riza broke it.

 

"If you wouldn't mind sir," she said, looking almost anywhere but his face, "I'd really appreciate it if you could finish up the braid, I'm afraid I still can't do it as well as Edward does by myself…"

 

"Of course Captain," Roy replies, resituating himself so that he was now facing her, "after all, it is equivalent exchange."  She smiled softly as she turned so she sat cross-legged on the bed, her back to him.

 

Roy is struck by the amount her hair had grown since she cut it short after the Promised Day.  When he asked her about it the other day, she said that it was a small gesture just to remind her of both Winry and Ed and everything the two have done for them.  A simple reason, she said, but she said she would probably cut it again in the future.

 

Her hair is startlingly soft.  Though he doesn't really know why that surprises him.  Maybe it's the fact that she herself was so resolute, and the way she holds herself in the office and on duty is so rigid, that it catches him off guard when he is reminded that parts of her are still soft.  Not just physically, not just this strand of hair, but her entire being.  He sees it every so often in the office when she thinks nobody is looking.  She'll give a small smile at the other men's antics, or when she is with Hayate, when her expression is softer than any he's seen on her in years.

 

As his hands cross the strands of hair over each other, his mind drifts and neither of them speak.  The silence is comfortable.  The Alchemist in him thinks of how codependent the structure of the braid is.  You can't have the braid without interweaving the two separate parts.  And together, those parts create something rather incredible.  Sure, it's just a hair style, but the more he thinks about it, the more he finds himself comparing his own relationship with his Captain to the relationship between the strands of hair.

 

"General?"  Roy blinks.  He realizes that he's just been carding his fingers aimlessly through her hair for the past minute.  He feels his face heat up.

 

"Oh, uh…" he clears his throat, "sorry."  Riza just nods slightly in acknowledgement.  He can see red creeping up on the back of her neck.  Her neck looks like its as soft as her hair.  He shakes his head.  The air feels different, almost stuffy.

 

Sighing, Roy refocuses on his task and finishes the braid quickly.

 

"Finished," he says as he scoots away and stands up.  Riza follows, and they reach the door at the same time.

 

"Thank you sir," she says.  He puts a hand on his neck and smiles.

 

"I tried my best, it's been a long time since I've braided hair," he smirks and continues, "my sisters would be appalled if they knew that I didn't keep up the practice."

 

She laughs, and then reaches up to adjust his bowtie one last time.  Roy feels the heat come back to his face.  She's so close.  The fire spreads until he feels the tips of his ears burning.

 

"Captain I -" he cuts himself off, trying to figure out just what it is he's trying to say.

 

Riza looks at him, her amber eyes filled with curiosity.  Hughes' words come back to him.  _Through action…_ Roy grabs her hand where it rests on his chest after she dropped it from adjusting his bow tie one last time.

 

"You look beautiful," he manages.  Her eyes widen and she looks nervous before she smiles.

 

"Thank you," she replies.  A heartbeat passes and she apparently decides something in that moment because in the next her lips touch his cheek.  She remains for a second and then goes back down to a flat foot from her tip toes.  She gives him one last small, shy smile, and then exits the bedroom.

 

Roy grins, probably looking like an idiot, but he decides as he follows her out into the hallway that it's okay, because even if he's an idiot, he's her idiot.  After all, she's given her life to him, so he can only in turn give his to her.  Equivalent exchange.

 

Despite how much he may plan to tease the Shrimp about it, the kid has a good point in his ideology surrounding his marriage to Winry.  When you find someone that important to you, you can't let them get away… and Roy doesn't plan to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the tumblr prompt: one playing with the other's hair from a month or so ago, I'm working on other prompts I've gotten. Hope you enjoyed it! Also, I have no idea what tense I do when, so apologies there!


	16. Early Walk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roy can't seem to remember reality...

On the list of things Riza Hawkeye was expecting at 4:00 a.m. in the morning, hearing Maes Hughes' voice calling her name was not among them.

 

"Hawkeye, c'mon open the door, this guy is deadweight and I wanna go home."  The continuous whining that accompanied the incessant pounding on her door shakes her from her fitful sleep.  Groaning, she turns over and covers her ear with her pillow, trying to block out Hughes' voice.  A sniff and some shuffling from across the room makes her pause in her actions.

 

 _Rebecca_.  Dammit, she had forgotten that she had a roommate again!   Even now that they were sharing a small apartment as opposed to one of the stuffy Academy rooms, Riza was unprepared for the near constant presence of her best friend.  In Ishval, she had gotten painfully accustomed to being alone in her tent at night, not to mention stationed in a remote location during the day, and the readjustment to having another human being nearby while she tried to get some sleep was still going badly.

 

Muttering a quick and quiet curse, Riza lethargically drags her eyes open.  Quietly shutting the shared bedroom door behind her, she wills her cold bare feet to take her to the door of the apartment.

 

Opening it she says, "with all due respect, Lieutenant Colonel," glaring at the older man, "it is four in the morning and I have a roommate who is asleep, much like I would like to be."  Of course, the bespectacled man didn't need to know that it was pointless to even try to get to sleep at this point.  She suppresses a shudder as her nightmares reenter her mind.

 

Hughes just snorts, "Hawkeye, it's a Saturday night…"

 

"Sunday morning," she grumbles.  Hughes ignores her.

 

"And Roy boy here has had a bit too much to drink," he inclines his head to the barely-awake Major Mustang leaning heavily on his right side.

 

"What exactly do you expect me to do about that…sir" Riza asks, fleetingly adding on the honorific.  Hughes runs his free hand through his hair and looks around the hallway.

 

"Listen Riza," he begins.  She stiffens.  Despite Rebecca always calling her by her first name, it no longer felt the same.  It made her feel more…human.  She wasn't prepared for that quite yet.  "Can we come in please?"  There's a pleading undertone in his words that startles her.  Sighing, she nods and Hughes stumbles in.

 

Riza shuts the door behind the men and takes a deep breath.  She just has to remind Hughes that both he and the Major are her superiors, therefore making this entire situation unbearably awkward, and he'll take Roy and be off.  No need to mention to him that the last time she had spoken to Major Mustang had been less than a month ago, when he had burned her father's secrets off of her back.

 

"Gracia's waiting at home for me," Maes moans as he plops down on her couch.  Roy sits limply beside the Lieutenant Colonel.  Riza busies herself making a cup of coffee in the kitchen as she hears Maes talking quietly to the Major, who is still barely conscious.

 

As she walks back into the small living room, she's only slightly shocked to hear her voice in the quiet conversation between the two men.

 

"You're gonna stay at Hawkeye's place overnight, on the couch, and sleep so your drunken ass sobers up, alright Roy?"  A quiet grunt.  Maes sighs.  "I wish you would stop asking that.  Of course Hawkeye's alright, I just talked to her."  Roy mutters a few things Riza doesn't quite catch, but before she can ask, Maes notices her.

 

"Oh god, Hawkeye, you're a saint," he says as he takes a steaming mug from her hand.  He waves the strong aroma towards Roy and smirks as the soldier's nose wrinkles.  "Say, you aren't sick or hurt or anything are you?"

 

Riza frowns.  "No…why?"

 

Maes takes a long swig of the drink before replying, "oh no reason really."  He pauses and adjusts his glasses, turning his gaze towards her.

 

"We went out for drinks, and Roy kept talking about you," Riza feels her face flush.  "But not his usual drunken blabbering about how amazing you are….  Kept saying something about you being hurt, and not being okay."  Maes takes another sip and Riza fights down the sinking feeling in her gut.

 

"I told him you were fine, figured maybe you had gotten grazed by a stray shot in Ishval, but he insisted you were hurt, and it was because of him.  Kept going on about how he doesn't want to hurt you, and how he's worried you hate him.

 

"Of course I told him that's absurd, he'd never hurt you, and then he said that he didn't want to.  And that's really all I could get out of him.  So I took him here, so he could see you were alright.  I really should be getting back to Gracia, but I can take him home before hand,"  Riza tries to remind herself how to breathe.  Maes still didn't know anything, but if this is what was going to happen every time Roy got drunk…

 

"Go home Maes," she says quietly.  His eyes widening just slightly at the use of his given name.  He looks at her critically, far too critically for a drunken man, before nodding.

 

"Are you sure Hawkeye?  I can swing by and drop him off, it's just a matter of convincing him you're alright…" he trails off.

 

"I'm sure.  Just go home Hughes, see Gracia.  Tell her I say hello.  I'll get the Major home," she replies.  The bespectacled man frowns, thinking hard for a quick moment.

 

"At least let me help you get him home first," he says finally, straightening up and grabbing the coat he had discarded on the arm of the couch.

 

"Alright."

 

* * *

 

Getting Roy in the car wasn't the hard part, nor was getting him into his apartment, thanks to the help from Hughes.

 

Maes had left only minutes before, after Riza had finally convinced him she could get Roy to sleep.  For a man so keen on returning to his wife, he had been very adamant in seeing his friend home safely.  He had said, "take care of him, remind him you're okay," and then exited the apartment.

 

So here Riza was, handing Roy a cup of coffee and sitting down on the opposite side of the couch as she watched the tired man try to stay awake.

 

The clock ticked.

 

"I'm alright, Major," she says into the silence.  Roy turns to face her, his gaze sad.

 

"I hurt you," he says softly.  Riza inhales.

 

"I'm fine," she replies.  He shakes his head, closing his eyes.

 

"I hurt you," he sounds like a broken record.  Before she can repeat herself, he continues.

 

"I'm as bad as him."

 

Riza's heart just about stops.

 

"I hurt you just like he did, what if you don't trust me anymore, what if I hurt you again, what if I lose my mind…" He pauses and his expression screws up into one of extreme pain.  When he speaks again, his voice is quiet and it breaks on the end of the sentence.  "What if I lose _you_."

 

Riza takes Roy's mug from his hands and sets it down, placing hers beside it.

 

On an impulse, she takes his hand.  It's surprisingly rough despite the fact he wears his gloves so often.

 

"I'm right here," she says.  "I'm right here and I'm okay.  You didn't hurt me, you helped me.  You aren't like him.  You won't lose your mind….I won't let you."  She inhales as he takes her other hand in his, running his thumb over her knuckles.  He keeps his gaze on the space inbetween them.

 

"I'm okay, you're okay…"  She pauses, waiting for him to look at her before she continues.  When he does, his dark eyes are shining.  "We're okay."  Roy drops her hands and surges forward, wrapping his arms around her and folding her into a tight embrace.  Riza stiffens before  letting her own arms wrap around his broad back.  His face buries into her neck and she thinks she can feel tears.

 

"You're okay…" she repeats, "we're okay."

 

* * *

Riza doesn't return home, instead just staying on the couch, holding Roy and anchoring him to the reality that he can't seem to remember.

 

She'll just tell Rebecca she went for an early walk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Something I found again while going through some files. Finished it up and decided to post it! Hope you liked it!


	17. You Did What?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roy makes a particularly stupid decision.

“Hawkeye,” Roy said breathlessly as he slid into the booth seat across from Riza.  “Hawkeye, I messed up.  Like big time.”

Sighing, Riza lowered the newspaper she had been pretending to read and looked at her superior across the table.  His cheeks were red and his eyes were wide.  She suppressed a smirk as he struggled to catch his breath.

“What is it, sir?”  Gasping for air, Roy held up a finger in a ‘wait’ gesture.  “Sir?”

Shaking his head, Roy met her gaze, eyes wide and slightly…fearful?

“So I may or may not have kind of maybe slightly agitated a known arms dealer and kind of made a questionably legal deal to fix it, and there may be like fifteen crates of illegal arms heading to an abandoned warehouse in the Eastern sector within the next eighteen hours,” he said, not stopping for a breath.

Before she could respond, he continued.

“And you know how the plan was to get on his good side right?”  Not waiting for her response, he continued again, mouth moving a mile a minute.

“Well the lady with him made a move on me and – I swear to god Hawkeye that woman does _not_ understand basic body language – so then she kissed me, and I didn’t kiss her back, and I think she’s pretty drunk, like really drunk, but then the guy looked back and saw and was pissed as all hell and-“

“Hold on,” Riza said, holding up a placating hand.  “Let me get this straight.”  Roy nodded, looking like a flustered and concerned teenager as opposed to the confident young man he actually was.  “The target’s…female friend…kissed you, the target saw, and in order to placate him you made an illegal arms deal?”

Roy rubbed the back of his neck as he responded.  “Yeah, so here’s the thing…”  Not quite meeting her eyes, he continued.

“Another part of the deal may or may not have been the agreement was for him to have a few minutes um…alone, with my my own ‘female friend’…” Roy trailed off, resolutely refusing to look at her.

“YOU DID WHAT?” Riza yelled.  Roy looked around frantically as he shushed her, waving his arms in an effort to calm her down.

Illegal arms deals she could deal with, Roy making stupid deals during high pressure situations was nothing out of the ordinary, but this?  This was a new level of stupid.

“Sir, with a due respect, there is no way in hell I will give that man a ‘few minutes with a female friend’” Riza said, crossing her arms.  He could write her up for insubordination all he wanted, but she would sooner kiss Jean Havoc than allow some stranger to be alone with her for five minutes.  And she _really_ did _not_ want to kiss Jean Havoc.

“Hawkeye I’m so sorry I panicked and he was saying things and then I was just trying to get him to be quiet because I couldn’t understand what he was saying and everything went to hell and-“

“Sir,” Riza interrupted.  Roy kept going.

“And did I mention that that woman had no boundaries and I think she might’ve copped a feel? Like who does that?  I’ve only had like two drinks I am nowhere near drunk enough for this stuff.”

“Colonel.”

“And he kept talking about big guns, and I can’t tell if he meant like his muscles, like Armstrong, which, by the way, was not a mind image I wanted; or like actual guns, like the ones on the range at HQ-“

“Roy!” Riza exclaimed, hitting him lightly on the cheek, promptly shutting him up.

Roy turned to her with wide eyes and flushing cheeks, although this time she wasn’t sure if it was from his panicked babbling or her physical attention grabbing or her use of his first name.

“Sir,” she amended.  “It’s alright, we’ll figure this out.”

Roy buried his face in his hands and groaned.  “Hawkeye I’m so beyond sorry, I can’t believe I set you up with an illegal arms dealer who’s like twice your age, gross, and you’re so out of his league it’s a joke.”

Suppressing a small smile, Riza rolled her eyes and cleared her throat.  Roy peeked at her between his fingers.

“Let’s sort this out, but this time no illegal arms deals, and definitely no alone time with any of your subordinates, alright?”

Roy nodded before giving her a sly grin.  “What about Havoc? He’s been a pain in the ass lately-“

“No, sir.” Riza said, as she extracted herself from the booth.  “Him calling you a ‘matchstick’ is not a valid reason to make him go on a date with some mob boss.”

“Damn.  And here I thought being a Colonel would have its perks,” Roy joked as he followed her towards where the man sat.

“With a due respect, sir,” Riza said, fighting down a laugh.  “Please shut up.”

“Yes ma’am.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A fun prompt from tumblr - "YOU DID WHAT?"


	18. Let's Build A Snowman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Central doesn't get a lot of snow, but the Hawkeye house does

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this because I got a snow day off of school and where I live that barely ever happens. I love snow way too much and never get it....and I headcanon that Roy has the same situation (lmao this is so short I'm sorry)

Roy grins as he grabs Riza’s hand tighter, pulling her along in the large field among the swirling snowflakes.

“It’s snowing, Riza!” He exclaims.  “Actually snowing! _And_ _sticking_!”

He pulls down his scarf from his face to open his mouth, facing the slightly light pink-hued sky to try and catch a snowflake.

“That’s what happens in North Eastern Amestris, Mr. Mustang,” Riza laughs, watching his eyes widen as a single flake lands briefly on his tongue before melting.  “Does it not snow in Central?”

Roy stops, and turns to her.  Riza fights down another puff of laughter at his overly-excited expression.

“It snows in Central, sure,” he says, waving his free hand around vaguely.  “But it never really sticks around.  My Aunt says it’s more slush than snow.  But this – _this_ is snow.”

“And do you like it?” Riza asks.

“Like it?” Roy laughs, grabbing her other hand.  “I love it!”

Riza tries to ignore the way he’s absentmindedly rubbing his thumbs over her frozen knuckles.

“My last question,” Riza says, smiling softly at him, “is if you’ve ever built a snowman before.”

Roy’s eyes light up impossibly brighter.  “No,” he breathes.

“No?” She repeats.

“No,” he says, blushing lightly.  “I’ve never built a snowman.”

She shakes her head, turning her gaze to the snowy ground to hide her affectionate smile.  She doesn’t usually tease him, but that somehow makes it all the more alluring…

“Oh Mr. Mustang,” she says.  “I’m sorry to break it to you, but I’m afraid you can no longer continue studying under my father if you haven’t ever built a snowman.”

She hears his quiet laugh.

“Well, we can’t have that, can we?” Roy replies.  She looks up to see a small smirk inching its way onto his face.

“No, we can’t.”

“Well then, Ms. Hawkeye,” he says, squeezing her hands tighter.  “It’d be an honor if you would grace me with your knowledge and expertise in this field.”

“Was that a pun, Mr. Mustang?”  She asks incredulously, fighting down a grin.

Looking slightly embarrassed, Roy relinquishes his grip on her hands to rub at the back of his neck with one and stuff the other in his pocket, as if he finally realized how long he had been holding onto her.  “Unintended, yes, but this field does have an adequate abundance of materials…I think.”

“It does,” Riza lets the affectionate smile win out this time.  Blushing slightly, she reaches for his hand, which he willingly gives her.  _For warmth_ , she thinks.  Sure.

Roy’s grin grows.  “Well, Ms. Hawkeye, let’s go build a snowman.”


	19. Silent Fury

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> short drabble for the tumblr prompt "silent fury"

Edward gulped, scrunching his back against the cold brick wall as he watched the less-than-cordial interaction play out across the dark alley.

Lieutenant Hawkeye’s face was contorted in silent fury, her eyes burning as she held the large man against the opposite wall.  Edward rubbed his neck gingerly, wincing as his hand grazed what he was sure was going to turn into a nasty bruise later.

When the Lieutenant and Colonel had sprinted around the corner, probably after hearing Al’s desperate yelling from where he sat incapacitated at the mouth of the alley, they had been met with Ed being forced against a wall by this man’s large forearm, a knife threatening to pierce the blonde’s abdomen.

Within seconds, there had been a loud shout of “Edward!” as Hawkeye had run over to him, abandoning all of her regular military precision and care.  The oaf had barely jabbed Ed with the knife, then taken a step back, turning to brandish the weapon at her.  But he had made a grave miscalculation, see, because a mad Riza Hawkeye - despite her small size - could obliterate almost any opponent.

Edward couldn’t help but smirk as he watched the quietly seething woman punch the taller man in the face.  Mustang, who was putting pressure on his bleeding wound, had a small smile on his face, despite his furrowed eyebrows.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen the Lieutenant this furious,” the Colonel muttered.  “She cares about you, you shrimp.”

Edward glared at the Colonel, but with little true anger.  “Yeah, well,” he retorted. “I care about her too, so does Al.”

“I know,” Mustang replied.  “And so do I.”

“Good,” Ed said, wincing.  “Now could we maybe get this wound fixed, and that man away from Hawkeye before she kills him?”

“Sure thing, Fullmetal.”


	20. Trembling Hands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> short drabble for the tumblr prompt "trembling hands" - yes, I'm very original with my chapter titles :')

She lets her eyes close as Roy’s breath ghosts over her cheek.

“Sir – I,” Riza tries.  Her voice catches.

“Hawkeye…” Roy croaks.  “I –” he falters.

She doesn’t speak, barely even breathing as she watches his face contort.

“I can’t  _see_ ,” his voice breaks and she thinks that she feels something inside her shatter alongside it.

“I know, Colonel,” she manages.  “I…”

He takes in a shaking breath as she trails off.  Throwing caution into the wind, her hands find his own calloused ones and guide them to her shoulders.

She stills as his trembling hands dip over her shoulders to rest on her back.  He cautiously tugs her towards him, and she lets him, softening her tense muscles to slump forward.

He rests his forehead on hers, and mutters something that sounds an awful lot like “I need you,” and Riza’s breath hitches once again.  She swallows down the growing lump of emotion in her throat and allows her hands to move from where they had reflexively cupped his face to then tangle in his hair.

His head bobs down to rest on her shoulder, and she tries to ignore the warm tears that soak through her thin hospital gown.

“I’m here…” she whispers.  “I have you.”

It’s awfully reminiscent of the time Hughes had brought his slightly intoxicated best-friend to Hawkeye’s apartment shortly after Ishval.  She had then brought Roy to his own small apartment, and stayed with him on his couch as he had sat there, shaking, all over the ridiculous fear of losing her.

“I’m right here…”

She tries to ignore the way he holds her almost desperately.

Hopefully they’d be alright come morning.


	21. Eventual Equivalent Exchange

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a short drabble for the tumblr prompt "I'm here for my daily fix of hugs and kisses"

“I’m here for my daily fix of hugs and kisses.”

The voice suddenly in very close proximity to Riza’s ear startles her – amid the bustle of the  _finally_  completed mission, she hadn’t noticed the individual beside her until it was too late.

Turning her head to the right, she is met with Colonel Roy Mustang, who is sending her what she is sure he must think of as an attractive smoldering look, judging from his quirked smirk and gleaming eyes.

“Sir, I’m afraid you’re asking the wrong person,” she replies, looking back down to snap the clasps on her rifle’s case.  The cut directly over her eyebrow stings sharply as she frowns.

Out of the corner of her eye, she thinks she can see her superior pout slightly, and she fights down an eye roll.  Straightening up, she grabs the case and turns to Roy.  “We should be getting back to the office,” she says.

“Lieutenant, I really want to kiss –” he starts.

“Sir,” she interrupts, silencing him with a stony glare.  “Whatever you were about to say is most likely not appropriate for this time or place, or at all for that matter.”  She smooths her uniform and begins to walk towards where Breda has the Colonel’s car running. The dark-haired man follows.

“Lieutenant,” he tries again.

She sets down her rifle before whirling around to face Roy, who stops cold.  Riza ignores the slightly-terrified look that a young private shoots her way as he scuttles past the two senior officers.

“Colonel Mustang,” she growls, “with all due respect.  I haven’t slept in over twenty-two hours, and neither have you.  Now is  _really_  not the best time to be testing my patience.  I hope you can understand that,  _sir_.”

Riza sees a flash of respectful recognition in his eyes as he seems to come to his senses.

He sighs, running a hand through his drooping hair, and sends her a soft smile, one that reads  _I’m sorry_.  “My apologies, Lieutenant,” he says, bending down to pick up her case where she dropped it.  “You’re right, I really just need some sleep… Consider this as an eventual equivalent exchange, then.”

Before she can say anything, maybe ask for clarification on his last sentence, or even make a move to take back her gun; he bends down and presses a kiss to the cut above her eye faster than she can even follow.  Suddenly, she’s incredibly grateful for the night’s intense darkness as she feels her face heat.

“Thanks for protecting us back there, Hawkeye,” he says, moving to walk past her. She blinks, and turns to follow him – staying her customary two steps behind and left as they walk towards the rest of their exhausted, ragtag team.

“Of course, sir,” she replies quietly.

As the team piles into the car – save Fuery who is already fast asleep in the front seat – Riza shakes her head with a smile.   _Eventual equivalent exchange…_ Damn, now she owes him a kiss.


	22. Think I'm In Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> short drabble for the tumblr prompt "love"

“You know… I think I’m in love with you.”

Riza’s heart just about stops at the near-imperceptible words that hover in late-night air of the office.  She looks up slowly, her eyes dragging across the now insignificant words of the document on her desk, and directs her gaze over to where her superior officer sits.

His words are  _far_  too honest.

Roy isn’t looking at her, in fact, his focus is all on the papers in front of him.  To anyone else, it would most likely seem that he was entirely indifferent, nonchalant, unconcerned… and while yes, he did put on a good act, it was just that - an act.  She’s known him long enough.

Riza can see the way his grip on his pen is tight to the point of his knuckles going white.  She can see the way he is chewing on the inside of his cheek.  He’s nervous.

When was the last time Roy Mustang was actually, honestly nervous?

She can’t her help response…he’ll know immediately that she’s messing with him, after all, just as she knew him, he knew her.  He’ll know her  _true_  answer despite her not saying it directly - those words that she  _can’t_  say directly…

“Sorry, Colonel, but I do believe that your lack of sleep has gotten to you,” she replies primly.  “Would you like me to fetch you a fresh cup of coffee?”

She sees his body relax and can’t help the flood of affection for this man that surges into her chest as Roy leans back in his chair, closing his eyes and rubbing his temples.

“I would appreciate that, Lieutenant,” he replies tiredly.  “I think you’re right, I haven’t gotten much sleep lately…”

He continues to work in silence as she crosses to the other side of the office, preparing a quick cup of coffee (and tea for herself) with warm efficiency.

If their fingers touch for a tad too long as she hands him his mug, and if a warmth spreads in her body as she sits back in her chair that isn’t from the steaming tea… well… nobody needs to know.


	23. I Swear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> short drabble for the tumblr prompt, "I swear it was an accident"

“Lieutenant, I  _swear_  it was an accident!” Roy exclaims as he follows Riza as she walks briskly towards their office.

He winces as she opens the door that separates the hallway from his team with more force than necessary.

Roy ignores the mixture of looks that his team gives him as they register the tense air between him and Riza: Havoc’s humorous smirk, Fuery’s slight-terror, Falman’s quick acknowledgement of their entrance, and Breda’s curious gaze.

“Really, Colonel?” Riza shoots towards him as she stops in front of his desk.  “It was an  _accident_  that the paperwork that was due  _three_  days ago is still sitting on your desk,  _unfinished_  and practically not even started?”

Roy can’t help but shrink back as she levels a glare at him.  Her eyes flashing, she continues, “that weapons bust was important, and you know – or I  _thought_  you knew – that the commanding officer of the mission is responsible for completing the necessary paperwork, especially when illegal arms are present.”

“Lieutenant I –” Roy starts.

“I don’t want to hear it,” Riza snaps.  Roy swallows. He watches as Riza takes a deep breath before she continues.

“If you would please complete the report so it can be turned in as soon as possible.”  It’s phrased as a question, but with Riza’s deadly-serious tone and hardened gaze, Roy knows it’s a command – even if it’s technically coming from a lower-ranking officer.

It’s not one he’s going to ignore.

Rather than voicing any complaints, Roy simply sits down, pulls the stack of paper towards him, and gets to work.

Sadly, his subordinate isn’t quite as wise. 

“Man, sometimes I wonder who is really in charge around here,” Havoc says with a laugh.

The tall, sandy-haired man immediately sobers as Riza turns her glare to him.

“Sorry, 2nd Lieutenant,” she says evenly.  “I couldn’t hear you.  What was your question?”

Roy watches with faint amusement as Havoc merely shakes his head and says, “no question, ma’am.”

Riza nods, and crosses to her desk, where she sits and promptly beings writing on her own papers.

Accident or no, Roy thinks, this was about to be a  _very_  awkward,  _very_  tense next couple of hours.

 _Oh boy_.


	24. I'm Pregnant

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> short drabble for the prompt "I'm Pregnant"

“Before you kill me,” Riza says grimly, gingerly wiping her bleeding lip.  “Please just let me tell the Colonel something.  One last thing…please.”

Roy stiffens from where he is also bound to a chair, just across from Riza.  The slimy-looking man who had captured them makes a show of lightly stroking his chin in thought before saying, “you have one sentence.”

Roy feels a coil of apprehension settle in his gut.  His team was supposed to have been here by now, this entire mission was supposed to have been in their control.  But right now, he and Riza sit in this musty warehouse, bleeding, bruised, and seemingly about to die.

He lifts his gaze to meet Riza’s, and finds comfort in her warm brown eyes.  She gives him a look, one that he knows means trust me, before opening her mouth.

And nothing could’ve ever prepared him for what came out of her mouth next.

“I’m pregnant.”

Roy feels his jaw slacken, his eyes widen, and his entire posture slump.   _That didn’t make any sense_ …his pain-glazed mind thinks hard for a moment before it clicks.

Just then, just under the satisfied and repulsive laughter of their captor, who is saying something about the irony of that sentence, or whatever, Roy can hear the faint sound of metal scratching within the lock.

Seconds later, the rest of his team bursts in, Havoc quickly using the butt of his gun to knock out the men as he approaches the leader, who he tells to step away from his superior officers, and put down his knife.

Within seconds, Fuery has untied Riza, who quickly comes over to him to untie his own ropes.

“Are you okay, Colonel?” She asks.

“Fine,” He replies.  “But what you said, Lieutenant?”

“The code-word, for when the guards were closest to the door.”

Roy can’t help the smile that’s spreading on his face.

“Havoc was outside for the past little bit, then?”

She nods in confirmation.

“But why that?” He gently grasps her wrist as she finishes undoing the knot, keeping her in front of him.

“Because it needed to be something noticeable from everything else, something that is entirely unexpected…”

“Not ‘I love you,’?” Roy whispers.

He watches as a quick shadow of embarrassment crosses her face before she meets his gaze.

“Havoc think that’s too reasonable,” she laughs quietly.  “He said we’re too obvious, that that would be expected.”

_Oh._

Roy smiles softly and squeezes her hands.  Riza looks back to him and shoots back a quiet quirk of her own lips.

“Well, I’m glad you’re alright, Lieutenant,” he says, bending forwards to press a brief kiss to the corner of her lips, where a quick flick of a knife had caught her just slightly hours before.

“You too, Colonel.”

Too obvious, huh, Roy thinks as he watches Riza cross to where Havoc stands.

As much as he hates to admit it, but maybe the chain-smoking Lieutenant had a good point.


	25. And I'm Terrified

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> short drabble for "I think I'm in love with you and I'm terrified"

Roy watches as his breath clouds in the cool autumn air.  There’s a certain calm to the quiet hustle and bustle of the small town’s train station, but for once it doesn’t do anything to help soothe his erratically beating heart.

He’s entirely too conscious of Riza’s presence mere inches away, and inhales deeply to try and minimize the coil of anxiety that’s pitted in his gut.

Acting on an impulse, he reaches for her hand.  Roy feels her glance at him as she tangles her fingers in his, and braces himself for the rush of words that wait impatiently to tumble out of his mouth.

He speaks softly into the quiet between them, “I think I’m in love with you and I’m terrified…”

Her grip on his hand stiffens ever so slightly, before tightening as she guides his body to face her.

In all their years together, they had left many things unspoken.  Her apprehension of his arrival, his refusal to let her be alone, her stoic confidence and acceptance of him, their friendship….their possible something more.

Roy knows that words aren’t their thing, not really, not when they somehow know each other so well that that type of communication is unnecessary…but he can’t help himself now.

His train to the military academy will be arriving in the next few minutes, and he’s never felt like he’s needed words more than in this moment right now.

He’s brought back to the reality of the station by Riza wrapping her arms around him.  He chokes back a sob as he bends down slightly to wrap his own arms around her petite frame.

“It’s okay to be afraid,” she says quietly.  “It’s okay…”

He takes a shuddering breath in before he whispers, “what if I don’t make it back?”

Suddenly she leans back and looks up at him, guiding his face in her callused hands to look at her own.  He’s taken aback at the fire in her eyes.

“You will come back,” she says with a hardness he hasn’t heard for a long time.  “You have to come back,” her voice breaks slightly as she continues, “I’m not losing my best friend.”

“Riza, I…”

A piercing whistle signifies the arrival of the train that will take him to Eastern City.  Roy swallows, blinking his eyes to try to clear the tears that threaten to spill, and smiles sadly as he watches Riza’s eyes well up too.

“I’ll be back…” he whispers, letting his instinct guide him to tuck a piece of flyaway hair behind her ear.  “I’ll write to you, and I’ll be back.”

She returns his sad smile and offers her pinky to him.  He can’t help but laugh quietly, a few years back this had been something they’d started, a silly but meaningful reassurance of their promises to each other.

“I promise,” he says, linking his pinky with hers.

The second whistle blows, prompting many passengers to bid their goodbyes and begin to board.  Roy is about try again to say his own goodbye, when Riza surprises him.

She rocks forward onto her toes and lightly presses her lips to his, bringing a hand to cup his face.  His eyes widen for a moment before he closes them and bends to meet her, his own hand snaking to pull her closer.

It’s over far too quickly, lasting only a few moments that seem like several sunlight days.

One of Riza’s hands remains on his chest, and she looks up at him with a flushed face.  He feels his own cheeks heat as he gazes back.

“I’m a bit terrified too,” she says quietly.  He nods, understanding her own unspoken words, back to what they’re comfortable with.

“I’ll see you soon,” he replies.  She nods, and he picks up his bag, walking onto the train before he can’t get himself to leave at all.

As he shows his ticket, he glances back to where Riza stands, straight and composed, and smiles.  He waves a hand, and watches as she smiles, that same sad quirk of her lips as before, and raise her own hand to him.

Despite that fear, Roy knew he’d come back.  He had to.


	26. Psychotic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> for the prompt "psychotic"  
> this will probably be worked into the fic "A Temper To Match His Hand" pretty soon :')

“Mustang, hey,” Ed was pleading now, shoving precaution aside as he reached out his automail arm to try and bring the inconsolable man back to reality.  “Whatever it is, we’ll fix it.”

Ed watches helplessly as Mustang runs white-knuckled hands through his hair, eyes widened and pointed down at the floor the two are kneeling on.

“Fullmetal.”  When Roy speaks, his voice is low, dangerous.  “They’re gone.”

Ed feels an icy horror settle into his stomach.  “What do you mean, they’re gone?” He asks hesitantly.

Roy drags his gaze up to meet Edward’s, and when he sees the older man’s dark eyes, he has to consciously stop himself from reeling backwards.  The look in those eyes is entirely too close to being described as psychotic.

“My team,” Roy’s voice sounds like it’s on the brink of breaking, and part of Edward breaks alongside it.  This was his superior officer, Roy Mustang, The Flame Alchemist, one of the strongest men he knows, and he was breaking.

“My team is gone.”


	27. Perfect Evening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> for the tumblr prompt, "is there a reason you're naked in my bed?"

After an incredibly long, tiring, and particularly testing day at work, Riza couldn’t be more excited at the prospect of a hot shower, a large mug of her favorite tea, and a few chapters of that new romance novel that Rebecca had sent from East City.  The perfect evening.

So, Riza was understandably frustrated, and sure, shocked, when she, after greeting Black Hayate and taking off her uniform jacket, walked into her bedroom to find it already occupied.

Possessing a composure she wouldn’t have ever expected herself to have in this scenario, Riza simply sighs, dragging a tired hand over her face before she looks her superior officer straight in the eyes.

“Colonel,  is there a reason you’re naked in my bed?”

Roy Mustang has the grace to look embarrassed, and Riza fights down a laugh at the extreme uncertainty that paints his features.

He clears his throat before addressing her.  “Ah - Lieutenant…”

She watches him with raised eyebrows, a sign of her growing impatience.

“I uh…” he swallows.  “I lost a bet, with the men.”

“Mhmmm, and what exactly was that bet, sir?”  Riza thinks back to the team’s poorly-concealed laughter and whispering during the day - something that had driven her patience extremely thin, and suddenly can see the pieces clicking into place.

“Breda said that he didn’t think I could finish all of my paperwork for today and tomorrow in the time from lunch to the end of the day,” Roy supplies, tugging her thin sheets further up on his bare chest.  Riza focuses her eyes on his face, not on where his legs from toes to mid-thigh lay exposed on her mattress.

“I said I could, and then Havoc made it a bet, and the losing side was to…well…be lying naked in your bed when you arrived home.”

Riza thinks to the way that Roy had left the office, right at the 0600 mark (not unusual), but with a flushed face and a half-hearted excuse of having to get home for something.  Fuery’s bright red face, paired with an impish grin, made a lot more sense now.

“I see…” Riza replies.

Roy nods sheepishly.

“I did really think I could do it, Hawkeye,” he continues.  “Finish the paperwork, that is.”

He scowls before continuing.

“But Havoc and Breda got Falman to hide half of today’s in your desk while we were at that meeting with Grumman.  You were delivering today’s paperwork to Sheska when Havoc went and opened your desk, took out the few reports, maybe three, and said that I’d lost.”

Riza fights down a laugh at her teammates antics, but refrains, Roy is already thoroughly embarrassed.

Shrugging, Roy says, “so here I am.”

“And how long do you stay here?” Riza asks.

Roy’s face reddens and Riza suddenly fears the worst.

“The night.”

Sighing, she crosses over to where Roy’s civilian clothes lay on the ground beside her bed.  She picks them up, and holds the bundle towards him.

“All due respect, sir,” she says as he takes them.  “Get the hell out of my bed.”

Roy nods quickly, and goes to stand, prompting Riza to quickly shut her eyes.

She hears him pause in the doorway.  “Couch?” He asks.

“Couch,” she said sharply.  Riza waits until she hears the quiet pads of his bare feet retreat into her living room, before plopping down onto her bed, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration.

There would be no Friday bar-night tomorrow for the men, oh no.  Instead, they would be finishing paperwork for through the coming Tuesday.  That would teach them to ever do something like this again.

So much for that perfect evening.


	28. Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> short drabble for "morning"

Though he was physically and mentally unable to sleep, Alphonse Elric sincerely and completely loved the early morning.

When he had had his body, before the Transmutation, he would oftentimes be up far before Ed, who was more of a night-owl, and the world would be silent and still, and ready for the new day.

Morning now meant watching over Edward as he slept fitfully, trapped in nightmares that even his own brother couldn’t shake him out of.  Morning now meant busying himself with menial tasks to keep his mind from wandering too far into the what-ifs.  What if they didn’t get their bodies back? What if he never got to taste Winry’s apple pie?

But Al is quick to switch his train of thought, back to what he felt years ago.  The wonder of the clean slate, the awe of the pretty pastel colors of the sky to the East, the quiet chirping of birds outside.

Mornings could be hard, sure, but they were still Al’s favorite part of the day.


	29. Sob

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> short drabble for "sob"
> 
> also probably being worked into "A Temper To Match His Hand"

Edward prided himself on his ability to keep a lid on his emotions.  Few people outside of his brother, Winry, and maybe Mustang’s Team (if he was being honest with himself), could really tell when he was upset…

So it shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise when Riza Hawkeye had walked over to where he sat in the corner of Mustang’s interior office, kneeled down in front of him, looked at him with the most concerned, warm, and understanding gaze he’d seen since his mother’s death, and asked him if he was okay.

And despite all of the times he had lied through his teeth to people, said “I’m fine,” or “yes,” Edward simply broke down and cried.

Riza’s face had contorted into something that seemed to physicalize the pain he was feeling inside, before it softened into that quiet comfort that she seemed to always exude as she wrapped her lithe, but strong, frame around his own.

As they sat there, his sobs raking through his body and by extension shaking hers, Ed couldn’t help but think that maybe this is what Al meant by saying that Lieutenant Hawkeye was the kindest person he had ever known.  Her outwardly silent and resolute personality yielded to a softer, but just as strong, character within.

In this moment, as he felt her hand rub small circles on his back as he hiccuped soundlessly, Ed felt more calm and comforted than he had in years - and he knew, he knew that it’d all be okay in the end.


	30. You Didn't

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 11\. "I almost lost you" kiss

There’s been so many times when he’s almost lost her that he’s can’t keep count. There’s been so many times when he has had to settle the fear and panic that had risen in his chest with nothing but a small nod of the head, a quick hand on the shoulder...nothing to ever suggest, even slightly, that a few moments earlier - when he hadn’t known if she was alright - that his world had felt like it was ending.

So many times when he had kept a respectful distance away, even though every cell in his body, every individual molecule of his being, had screamed for him to go to her and hold her and never let her go. Even when she’d been bleeding out, and he’d been so sure that he was about to lose her for good, he’d done little more than hold her for a minute. Still too long by the standards set before, but nothing even close to long enough.

And it only made sense that at some point this resolve would break, and the inevitable would happen. And sure, Roy didn’t expect that “inevitable” to be a searing kiss that feels desperate and too slow and too fast and too little and too much, but then again, the universe has always liked to throw him curveballs.

It happens not all that long after the Promised Day. His team had been back together for only a few months - Havoc reinstated after months of hard physical training, Falman, Fuery, and Breda ever present, and of course, Riza by his side.

The simple recon mission goes horribly wrong, and somehow Roy finds found himself bound to a chair, with his men, looking with a feeling that he can’t even describe, as a few of the unexpected cronies drag Riza backwards, away from him, away from his team, away from safety.

They get far too close to the door that leads out of the building, and towards what he’s sure is a car that would speed off to some far-off place and never return. It’s not like Riza isn’t fighting it, she is. But the men are huge, and the forearm that’s pressed against her throat is a bit too tight, and they’d already hit her down a few times.

It’s all a blur, when Fullmetal, somehow, luckily, manages to show up, shoulders back and self-confidence oozing, and place his small (albeit slightly taller, really) frame in the space between the men and the door.

Roy can see Ed’s false confidence, however, when the younger man’s eyes flit across the room and register Hawkeye, because in that moment, they flash with something that looks a bit like panic, and a lot like fury.

There’s crashes and explosions in Ed’s classic style, and moments later, Alphonse Elric, with his bright eyes and golden mop of hair - which still startles Roy but makes his heart soar all the same - is untying the ropes that have him and his men bound and then they’re all leaping into action. Within seconds, the warehouse falls silent, the cronies knocked out on the floor, and Edward standing over them rubbing his still relatively new flesh fist.

But Roy’s vision tunnels to the woman who is hunched over, also rubbing a fist that must’ve taken out the man she stands above, and he sprints.

And when he reaches her, all of the propriety, all of the years of nods and silent check-ins fade and suddenly all he wants to do is hold her, to know that she’s okay.

“I almost lost you,” he says quietly, grabbing her hand.

He searches her face as she smiles softly at him and replies, “but you didn’t.”

And he kisses her.

And despite her surprise, hell, despite his own surprise, she kisses him back, and for a quick moment, nothing else matters. That is, until Havoc lets out an excited yell and they part - slightly breathless, a little red-faced, and smiling brightly - and see the rest of their ragtag team grinning, a little beaten, a little tired, but happy and alive.

Roy just chuckles, and wraps his arms around Riza, because, despite it all, he hasn’t lost her, and never will.

**Author's Note:**

> I'll post any prompts from Tumblr that I write here as well owo
> 
> Any feedback/comments are totally welcome!


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